AmySea

My niece and I are both familiar with The Little Red Hen, and Armadilly Chili certainly has echoes of that story. While I usually find the kids' reactions to the stories we read to be interesting and educational, I am really surprised by *my* reaction to Armadilly Chili!

At first, I was *not* down with this book. I didn't like the main character, I didn't like her attitude toward her friends when they were unable to drop whatever they had going in order to help her, and I didn't understand why she was being so demanding of her friends in the first place. Helen Ketteman turned this story right around and made it so simply profound, and so heartwarming and wonderful! She really took this story and made the adult reflect on what's important in life, while delivering a deep and important message to kids. Her fusion of the lesson we're taught in The Little Red Hen with the lesson we're taught in this book is just masterful, and really, I think it is a much more accurate reflection of what most of us find to be true of our gatherings with friends and family in real life.

I commented to my niece that I really liked the message in this story (we discussed what that message was), and she said, "Yeah. And things worked out better for the friends in this story than for the friends in Gator Gumbo." Those who have read Gator Gumbo will recognize the truth in that statement. :-)