Very well, I shall make the bread myself," said the Little Red Hen. She began measuring and stirring. She kneaded the dough. She separated the dough into four loaves. She put the loaves by the warm oven and let them rise. Finally, when it was time, she put the loaves into the oven to bake. She was so happy because she still had three bags of flour left! As the bread baked, the most wonderful smell came from the Little Red Hen's kitchen. Dog, Cat, and Mouse stopped back by
after their walk. "My, your bread certainly does smell delicious!" they exclaimed. The Little Red Hen noticed that they kept licking their lips, especially Dog. Just then, the oven timer said, "Ding!" It was time to take the bread out of the oven. The Little Red Hen carefully took the hot loaves out of the oven and put them on the counter to cool. She used
her oven mitts to handle the hot pans. She carefully turned the loaves over onto a clean towel and let the bread loaf fall out of each hot pan. The bread was golden and crusty on the outside. It looked and smelled delicious! "Come to supper, my little chicks!" called the Little Red Hen happily. She quickly set out twelve little plates and cut twelve slices
of the delicious bread. As the chicks were eating happily (and noisily), the Little Red Hen noticed that her three friends were still looking hungrily at the bread. "I'm so sorry," she said graciously. "Will you stay and have some bread, too?"
"I will!" said Dog. "I will!" said Cat. "I will!" said Mouse. The Little Red Hen took out three more plates. She cut a generous slice of bread. Dog, Cat, and Mouse all licked their lips hungrily. Then the Little Red Hen cut the slice of bread into quarters. She put one-quarter of a slice onto each of their plates. "I'm happy to give my friends a bit of bread," she said. "But next time, if you want a share of the profit, you need to share in the work." "I will," said Dog, Cat, and Mouse meekly. They knew that Hen