Out of the Egg

New Zealander Matthews creates an odd but visually striking version of the Little Red Hen story. Here the fruit of the chicken's unassisted labors is not a loaf of bread but rather a ""great, green whispery tree"" that she lovingly cultivates to provide shelter for her egg. Her payback moment arrives when the offspring of the lazy pig, rat and cat ask to play in the tree's shade and she turns them down ""with a wry smile."" But the Red Hen had not reckoned on the generosity of her own little one. ""Mum, that's mean!"" exclaims her chick, and the Red Hen learns an important lesson about visiting the iniquity of the parents upon their offspring. Matthews tells her story through stylish and impressively detailed Japanese woodblock prints, adding splashes of bright red and green to punctuate the bold white-and-black lines. She clearly delights in re-imagining the lifestyles of the original layabout crew: one spread finds the Fat Cat, Dirty Rat and Greedy Pig lounging on a couch in front of a home entertainment center, while a few pages later they speed past in a snazzy convertible, leaving Red Hen in a cloud of exhaust. Unfortunately, as the story moves to a new generation with its themes of forgiveness, it feels more like a tract and less like a tale. Ages 4-8.