Children's Folklore Review: Little Red Riding Hood

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Title: Little Red Riding Hood by the Brothers Grimm
Author:Trina Schart Hyman
Illustrator: Trina Schart Hyman
Genre: Fairy Tale
Publisher: Holiday House; Reprint edition (September 1, 1987)
Copyright Date: 1987
Pages: 26 pages
Awards: Caldecott Honor Award

Summary: This is the classic tale of little red riding hood. Grandmother gives the young girl a red cloak, which she wears every day and that is why she is called little red riding hood. Her grandmother is sick so she must deliver some food and promises her mother to stay on the path. She then meets a wolf on her journey who asks her questions about where she is going, the basket she is holding, and where her grandmother lives. The wolf then decides his masterful trick where he pretends to be little red riding hood and then eats the grandmother. Meanwhile little red riding hood has finished collecting her flowers and then enters grandmothers house where she is extremely frightened. The wolf pretends to be grandmother and then eats her. The huntsman then tracks down the wolf and enters the house where he takes his knife and cuts the wolf open and saves little red riding hood and her grandmother.

Educational Purpose: I would have students use this book and compare it to other Little Red Riding Hood stories. I would read this version first and then split the students into groups and provide them with different versions of Little Red Riding Hood. I would then have students create a Venn Diagram where the could figure out the similarities and the differences of the books. Then we would discuss this as a whole class.

Grade Level: (Fourth-Sixth Grade) The content is the original story so it does have more anticipation and energy to the book then the fluffed up versions. This book also has some more complex vocabulary. Lexile is 800L.

Ratings:

					Comments
Plot	Excellent plot that is clever and has many surprising twists.	Good plot that has some surprises.	This is an okay plot that is kinda interesting.	Loose plot with many holes, and fails to grab the reader’s attention.	Creative plot with twists and surprises from the wolf, and the huntsman.
Character	Excellent characterization. The characters are complex and provide a strong emotional impact on the reader.	The characters are believable and the reader can relate to them, and feel an emotional tie to the characters.	The characters are lacking but likable. There is some emotional attachment to the characters.	The characters are poorly described, and leave the reader feeling detached from the book.	The characters are simple and easy to understand. Many children/students would be able to relate to Little Red Riding Hood curious ways.
Illustration	Excellent illustrations. Very detailed, creative, and connected to the book.	Illustrations were good and showed something important about the book.	The illustrations were okay, they were not very creative.	There was no illustrations, or they were not interesting.	The illustrations are extremely detailed and draw you in further to the book.
Recommendation	Excellent book that I highly recommend having in your classroom or library. This book will captivate, enchant, fascinate, and basically make you obsess about it.	Good book that I recommend having in your classroom or library. The book was interesting and kept my interest and was overall very engaging.	This book was okay. I believe this would be a book to check out from the library if you're feeling bored.	This book was awful and I cannot recommend it for your classroom or library. This book will leave you wishing you could rewind time so you don’t read it.	I would recommend this book. Little Red Riding Hood is a classic story, and this version is a little darker. This reminds me of the original Brothers Grimm versions.