OUT OF THE EGG

Illustrated with scarlet poultry that pops right out of the black-and-white woodcut illustrations, this variation on “Little Red Hen” offers unusual visual impact, as well as a gentle suggestion that children are not culpable for the sins of their parents. The Red Hen gets no help from Fat Cat, Dirty Rat or Greedy Pig in planting or tending the green seed she finds; years later, when a little cat, rat and pig ask her to let them play under the tree that has grown up, she responds, “Not I!” But, “Mum, that’s MEAN!” exclaims her own chick, and proceeds to invite them over for a day of play. Opening scenes of a junk-strewn industrial wasteland that is transformed by the end into grassy, rolling hills add an environmental subtext to this seemingly simple yet multilayered import. (Picture book. 5-7)