Little Red Riding Hood

PreS-Gr 2-Little Red Riding Hood is on her way to Grandma's house with a basket of treats. She has been warned by her mother not to talk to strangers or to dillydally along the way. But everyone knows how the story goes. Little Red does not heed her mother's warnings and is soon to become a potential lunch for a hungry wolf. True to the Grimms' version, this tale is updated only by its cartoonlike illustrations. The story is the same; Red is still as innocent and naive as ever, the wolf gobbles up Grandma and attempts to impersonate her in true form. Nevertheless, the illustrations are entertaining, and the retelling and art have been sanitized to be more suited to the very young. For example, the woodsman knocks out the wolf and zips open his stomach (literally with a zipper), releasing Grandma, safe and sound. Purchase where younger editions of this timeless tale are needed.-Carol Connor, Cincinnati Public Schools, OH (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A solid retelling of the familiar fairy tale geared for younger children. Ford hews to the basic plot most everyone can tell in their sleep: Little girl wears red hood all the time, is sent to Grandma's with a basket of goodies and multiple parental warnings, ignores warnings and talks to wolf, etc. For all its familiarity and easy reading level, the text holds itself to a high standard. The "big, bad, wicked old wolf" "slink[s]" out of the woods; Little Red Riding Hood stops to "dilly-dally"; the woodsman investigates the "commotion" inside Grandma's house. Understated humor keeps the tone light: "Although it was a little dim inside, [Little Red Riding Hood] could see that her grandmother looked a bit strange." The canonical dialogue between Red and the wolf is preserved, though parents uneasy about the traditional ending will be happy to find that this wolf has a zipper in his belly through which Grandma exits bloodlessly. Knight's watercolors are bright and cheery, the figures defined by thick, confidence-inspiring black lines. They vary from double-page spreads to vignettes that align themselves on the large white pages with the text, which is set in a comfortably large font with lots of space between the lines, making this a good bet for beginning readers as well. A splendid starter tale that will prepare children for the many more-complex versions that await. (Picture book/fairy tale. 3-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.