Little Red Riding Hood

Teya Rosenberg teaches children’s literature at the University of
Alberta.

Little Red Riding Hood’s mother sends her off with a bottle of wine
and some cake for her ailing grandmother, warning her to stay on the
path and go straight to Grandmother’s. The wolf persuades Little Red
Riding Hood to leave the path and gather flowers so he can rush ahead,
devour Grandmother, and then devour Little Red Riding Hood. As the wolf
lies supine and snoring after his feast, a hunter comes along, cuts him
open, and releases the two females. Little Red Riding Hood resolves
never again to disobey her mother about walking to Grandmother’s
house.

This picture-book version of the classic tale is a straightforward
retelling that, like the Grimm brothers’ version, emphasizes Little
Red Riding Hood’s lesson. The pictures are relatively simple and
cartoonlike, with some charming details, like grandmother’s teapot
being a replica of her house, or the dead wolf’s feet showing from
behind a tree when Little Red Riding Hood and Grandmother are having
tea. The watercolors used in the illustrations give the pictures a
lovely luminosity. Recommended.