Customer Reviews

Henny-Penny

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I first saw this book, I thought, "Oh, no!", another classic has been ruined! Our pandering to the young with short attention spans continues. I had to change my opinion when I actually took the tour through Jane Wattenberg's book. It is a tour, as our friend from days past sets out on her mission to let everyone know...well, you know! Using photos of real animals was a stroke of genius, it made the book much more humorous and real at the same time. The colors are brighter than in the retellings of classics by Jon Scieska and Lane Smith, the closest books I can think of related to this one in genre and style. This brightness and the smart, sly humor make the book a lot of fun. The busy look of the book becomes integral to the story--everything is there for a reason. My favorite page is the one which has the road signs to help Hen find the king--there are visual puns on every variation of "king" you can think of. I read aloud to classes and decided not to read this to my kindergarten and first graders. There are too many references to events, people and cultural knowledge that they would not understand. Of course, on seeing the book my first thought was that this younger age was the target audience. However, reading it to third graders was a blast! They got enough of the references to find it hilarious and love it! They want to look at it more, because it takes time to find all the fun things. An added bonus is that adults really laugh--a nice break for a teacher in the middle of a school day! I highly recommend this book for older elementary age students and the adults in their lives.

Jane Wattenberg's updated retelling of Henny Penny is full of rhyme, rhythm and very hip, very colorful language. My five year old can't get enough of this book. The photo illustrations are terrific with some silly surprises thrown in that all children will love to find and figure out. This is one fast paced, action packed, amazing book. Your family will love it.

My child is at that age where she loves music and anything with a rhythm. I remember when I was a child and was told this story; well the tale of the sky falling returns with a new twist. My child spends hours just rapping out the catchy lyrics in this remake of a classic story that all children are guaranteed to like. If you have a child within the ages of 6-15, i would recommend this book.

Click on this title by accident? Serendipity! Keep reading.

If you only buy one version of Henny-Penny, this is the one to have. If you have other versions of Henny-Penny, get this one and use the others for beach fires or scrap paper--THIS ONE IS THE DIVA! Fabulous photography is mentioned in other reviews and they speak truth. The photo art is superb, witty, charming..., but what I love is the language. Get out the voices and get ready to play! This book rocks! It begs to be read aloud, a perfect picture book for even very old children like me.

I love this cool new version of Henny Penny! The photo-montages are amazing and the text is fun and hip! This is one of those children's books which adults will love to read at least as much as kids.

I am long since grown-up. I have grandchildren, and a brother-in- law in Georgia. A few weeks ago he went out into the woods on his property to cut some wood for the fireplace in his home. A strong wind came up and broke a rather large limb off one of the trees. After a while, he arrived back home with a large wound (bleeding a lot) on his head and feeling just a bit wobbly at the knees. I could think of nothing but that famous quote, "The sky is falling!" So I immediately went to Amazon.com and found a copy of "Henny-Penny" and had it sent to him. He had the good grace to see the humor and says his grandson really enjoys hearing this classic!Henny-Penny

This should be put in the category of newfangled spin-offs, not in the category of classic stories. What made my son love Henny Penny was the classic repetition of the same words, each time adding a new phrase. While this edition uses words in a fun way, the repetition is buried in other clever language so that one to three year olds just won't pick it up. My toddler and preschooler were bored, it went over their heads, while a teenage friend was fascinated. This is a great book for children who are already familiar with the classic version.

These recent books don't appeal to me because I think they're needlessly confusing with their varying fonts and font sizes. I can't imagine what children must think, although from the other reviews some children love them. I give the two stars for the fun artwork, but in looking at the artwork the story is cast aside. One day this trend will pass away, and I will be grateful.