The Genius of Jerry Pinkney

Today, I tip my hat to “The Little Red Hen,” by Jerry Pinkney.

This is a simple fable. A hen finds some seeds. Will her friends help her to make bread? The dog is a good digger; he could help with planting. The rat has a reliable tail; this could assist with threshing. The goat carries things all day; he could certainly carry materials to the miller. And the pig loves the kitchen; he could help with baking.

Each animal--at least mildly self-obsessed--says, “No, I won’t help.” So, when the bread arrives, the hen makes a natural choice. It’s bread for her babies; it’s not going to the goat, the dog, the rat, the pig.

As always, Pinkney distinguishes himself with his love for detail and his attention to the natural world. Each flower has a very tiny face; the sun studies the hen with intelligent eyes; in the background, a frog shoots its tongue at a fly. Costuming tells us about character; only the fastidious hen, of all the animals, wears a hat as protection against the sun. Scale is used to make a point; the massiveness of the pig almost crowds the words off one page. (You know this pig isn’t going to help; you can’t help but love him, as he plops his head on the Earth and rubs his stomach with mud.)

Pinkey’s great triumph is, apparently, “The Lion and the Mouse,” along with its sequel, “The Grasshopper and the Ants.” I’ll get to those soon. I love how Pinkney breathes new life into old tales. Another inspiration.

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