Henny Penny

Henny Penny

by Paul Galdone

One day Henny Penny was pecking corn in the farmyard, when suddenly an acorn fell from the tree above and hit her on the head.

“Oh dear,” thought Henny Penny, “the sky is falling down! I must go and tell the king.”

So off she set to tell the king, and before long she came across Ducky Lucky.

“Where are you going to in such a hurry?” asked Ducky Lucky.

“I must tell the king that the sky is falling down!” cried Henny Penny. 

“Oh dear,” said Ducky Lucky, “may I come with you?”

So Henny Penny and Ducky Lucky set off to tell the king that the sky

was falling down.

Before long they met Foxy Loxy.

“And where are you all going?” asked Foxy Loxy.

“Oh, Foxy Loxy!” cried Henny Penny and Ducky Lucky.

“We are on our way to see the king, to tell him that the sky is falling down!”

“Oh dear,” said Foxy Loxy, “but that is not the way to the king. Let me show you a better way.”

So Foxy Loxy led Henny Penny and Ducky Lucky all the way to a hole in the ground. Now this hole led to Foxy Loxy’s burrow, but, hiding a sly smile, he said, “This is a short cut to the king. I’ll go first and you follow.”

Then Foxy Loxy led the way into the dark hole, and just round the corner he stopped and he waited. And Ducky Lucky and Henny Penny followed the fox into the hole and were never seen again.

So the king never did find out that the sky was falling down.