CONTENT:
The Little Green Hen (2018) was written and illustrated by Allison Murray and tells the story of a little green hen who lives in an apple tree. With the help of three friends (Dog, Sparrow and Squirrel), the little hen takes care of the tree and the environment in which it grows, so that many other plants can grow. Other animals who live in the area (Cat, Peacock and Fox), are too lazy to help her and they prefer to spend their time resting. One day a heavy flood comes and while Hen, Dog, Squirrel and Sparrow are safe inside the apple tree, all the others are in danger. Fortunately, the little green hen invites them to join her inside the trunk. From that day, all the animals understand the importance of trees and decide to help the hen taking care of them.
WHY USING THIS PICTUREBOOK:
Thanks to this picturebook, children can understand the importance of taking action to protect the environment and prevent environmental problems. The characters are talking animals, their anthropomorphized features allow young readers/listeners to identify and recognize human behaviours. The interaction between text and image can be defined as symmetric and the illustrations facilitate the comprehension of new expressions. The images represent the characters actions and emotions and convey the same information given by the written text: this can help the children understand the sequence of events presented in the story. The text is written in rhymes and the presence of direct speech can promote a communicative approach to English.
