Picture Book - Sophie

*One Hen*

One Hen is written by Katie Smith Milway and illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes and is about 'how one small loan made a big difference'. Set in Ghana, this story tells of how young Kojo has had to leave school to help his mother since his father died. They never have much money or food, that is until they get a small loan. Kojo himself loans a small portion from his mother and buys one hen. From that, he sells eggs, saves his money to buy more hens, and pays to send himself back to school. It follows the story of Kojo's success and how he goes on to help other families.

This text is different to those others I have reviewed in the way it is structured and it's purpose. It is still a narrative because it has an orientation, complication and resolution; but it serves to teach readers about micro-credit and is based on a true story. It has only one complication which is introduced with one sentence, 'they never have much money or much to eat' and is not elaborated on much further. So the story shape of this text would not appear to have too many events, however it continues to tell the effects of this small loan on the entire village and generations to come. It is narrated in third person in an objective manner which reflects the purpose. It is not the main character that the story is focused on but the loan and series of events that follow.

This text would be fantastic as an introduction to the topic of micro-credit in SOSE, or to use in an English lesson to explore the text structure and purpose. As discussed and demonstrated in our workshop this week; this text would be perfect for shared reading so that the facilitator can highlight key aspects of the text which are different to those previously studied. For example, this text contains a glossary at the back which the teacher should model how to use. It also contains 'The Story of a real Kojo' at the back, which tells of how a boy from Ghana did exactly as Kojo did and grew a business from a few hens. There is also a double page spread about how we as readers can help and learn more about micro-finance or micro-credit, which would be a valuable resource in a SOSE focus.This text would be appropriate to use with students year five and older based on the content and the vocabulary and I would definitely recommend it as a teacher resource.