Little Red Riding Hood

by Mireille Levert

An adaptation of a favorite childhood classic finds a modernized but naive Red Riding Hood carefully following the path to her sick grandmother's house and telling a crafty wolf exactly how to reach her destination.

Genres: Picture Books

Unknown Binding

First published February 27, 1996

Reviews

[Nick Somsavanh · Rating 4 out of 5]

(FABLE)

Little Red Riding Hood (1996), written and illustrated by Mireille Levert, is a retelling of the classic story of Little Red Riding Hood. This version is highly simplified for children with simple language and very bright and highly animated illustrations. Little Red Riding Hood is a little girl who's been sent on a mission by her mom to deliver cake and wine to her ailing Grandmother, who lives down a path in the woods. On her way to her Grandmother's house, Big Bad Wolf manages to trick Little Red Riding Hood into going off her path so that he can get to her Grandmother's house first, in order to devour both of them. Big Bad Wolf gets to the Grandmother and swallows her whole, then dresses in her clothes and takes her place in the bed, eagerly awaiting Little Red Riding Hood's arrival so he can eat her too. Once Little Red Riding Hood realizes she's gone off her path, she quickly gets back on track and heads to her Grandmother's house. Once there, Big Bad Wolf swallows her whole and takes a nice nap on Grandmother's bed. While in his loud slumber, a hunter shows up and investigates the scene, he recognizes Big Bad Wolf and cuts open his stomach and pulls out Little Red Riding Hood and the Grandmother, who are still alive and fully whole! The gruesome trio decide to re-fill Big Bad Wolf's stomach with stones, and that's what ends up killing the villain. Grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood end with eating the cake and being fully healthy.

As an adult, I thought the ending was a bit insane and tried to remember if that's how I heard it as a child, but am fairly certain that that's not how it ended when I first heard the story. But, it's also possible I just forgot it or blocked it out. In any case, in this realm in the fable, I think the book is somewhat appropriate for young children, as it sets the morals of 1.) listening to your parents and complying with the rules and 2.) don't talk to strangers. All fables are wildly imaginative, so expecting realism here is a bit unrealistic (ha!). The illustrations are also very colorful and playful and instantly engaging as Mireille greatly uses the full canvas to give the reader energy everywhere their eyes go. I recommend this book be read by parents/educators to their young children and can be read independently by K-2 grade students for leisure and entertainment.

[jacky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Acceptable version of Little Red Riding Hood. It does include her being eaten and the hunter cutting open the wolf. Also includes the rocks. Pictures are colorful and friendly, despite the darker parts of the story.