Little Red Henry is a story about a young boy Henry growing up. His family feels the need to coddle him and do just about everything for him. Now that he is getting older he is getting fed up and wants to do some things himself. His family follows him just about everywhere and is constantly asking him if they want them to do it for him. He denies just about every time. He was having a great time being independent until he had to go to bed. When he was laying in bed alone with no one to tuck him in he got scared. He asked if someone would tuck him in and his whole family came to the rescue. This moral of this story is about children growing up and wanting to be independent, but also realizing that they still need someone to take care of them from time to time. ( )

Little Red Henry is a story about a little boy who has a family who loves him, maybe a little too much. Henry is the baby of the family. He has two siblings and his parents who insist on doing everything for him. For example, the family fights over who gets to feed him, brush his teeth, and even pick out his clothes. Later on in the story, Red Henry gets tired of it all. He wants to eat by himself, dress himself and brush his teeth on his own. He even goes as far as going to see his friend Gibson by himself. Since henry has taken a little responsibility for himself, his family begin to do things for themselves. They are now free to practice music, paint, type, and even waltz. When henry gets into bed by himself, he asks for someone to tuck him in because he is feeling lonely and once again the whole family jumps to volunteer for him. I loved this because book and think it would be a perfect read for the little ones. This is pretty much how life is. We don’t realize that sometimes we have to let the little ones do some things on their own. Linda Urban is opening the eyes of other parents to this and also reminding children that their parents are still there, such as when he needed to be tucked in, if they ever need them. She helps children see that it is okay to not want to be independent all the time. The illustration by Madeline Valentine is wonderful and detailed. ( )

Little Red Henry is a truly wonderful story about the importance of developing independence and identity. This is the story of Little Red Headed Henry who works hard to convince his family that he can do things all by himself. I am looking forward to using this mentor text in a variety of ways. AS I read aloud to students, I will have them use the picture clues to predict how Henry is feeling. Throughout the read aloud, I will encourage children to make connections to the story about how they too can do more than their families think they can. After reading, we will use our background knowledge and evidence from the text to infer the life lesson of the story. This mentor text can also be used to inspire children to act out and "I can..." sentence and then write about it. I'd love to take photos of the children confidently doing what they feel they do well, such as tying shoes, carrying their own lunch tray, zipping their own coat, etc. Kids can then write an I can sentence to go with the photographs. Drawings can work too. I'd love to reread this book to my kindies later in the year to teach about synonyms.I love the part of the story where Henry finally sticks up for himself and the author describes how Henry's family is feeling--"They were listless. Adrift. Without Henry to do things for, they had not purpose. What a great way to teach our young learners more advanced word choice. ( )

Little Red has had it with being the baby of the family. ( )