Blog #16

Little Red Riding Hood

Written and illustrated by: Jerry Pinkney

Little, Brown and Company

2007

34 pages

Traditional Literature

 

I chose this book because it is a classic beast folktale of traditional literature.  Little Red Riding Hood is a classic tale of a little girl who is on a journey to meet her grandmother.  The little girl is a messenger from her mother carrying soup to her sickly grandmother.  Red Riding Hood’s grandmother lives far off and she must go through the forest to walk there.  In the forest, she meets a crafty, hungry wolf who immediately devises a plan to eat Little Red Riding Hood.  After distracting the little girl in the woods, the wolf goes to her grandmother’s house and swallows her whole.  Then the wolf dresses like the grandmother and gets into her bed.  When Little Red Riding Hood finally reaches her grandmother’s home, she finds that her grandmother looks very different than she remembered.  The wolf tricked her just long enough to gobble her up whole too!  Soon after that, a woodcutter found the wolf asleep inside the house and he killed wolf.  The woodcutter saved Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother!

The illustrations in this book were created by the author Jerry Pinkney.  The illustrations are drawn in a double page spread throughout the book with formal text placement.  The book informs me that Pinkney used pencil, watercolor, gouache, and ink on paper to create the breathtaking pictures.  The illustrations are very realistic from the look of the people, the wolf, and even the landscape throughout the book.  The illustrator is very talented.  I love the use of contrasting colors throughout the book compared to the red riding hood.  There are many soft greens, whites, and browns used to make the red hood stand out in comparison.  The book has a single image across the front and back covers, helping the reader predict the conflict of the book.

This book is appropriate for children in first grade through fourth grade.  This book is slightly violent for younger audiences and it would be too well-known for older audiences.  This book would capture the attention of the age group of first through fourth grade.  I would use this book in my classroom to share an example of traditional literature.  Little Red Riding Hood is a great piece of literature that every child should experience in public education.  Also, it would be a good book to discuss literary elements such as conflict and resolution.  This book could also be used in a science lesson talking about animals that live in the woods.  Wolves do not talk, but they do live in the woods and are very sneaky and crafty creatures.  I like this book because it is a modern take on the traditional story.  The illustrations really make the book great.  Also, it is very short compared to the full story.  Children can read this book on their own and understand the story!  This book won the 2008 ALA Noteable Books for Children award.