Little Red is written/retold by Lynn Roberts and is illustrated by her brother, David Roberts. This book takes a slight twist on the traditional fable of Little Red Riding Hood. In this story the main character, Little Red, is a young boy. He travels weekly to his grandmother's house to bring her food and his parent's special ginger ale that comes from their inn they own. Little Red's mother warns him to stay on the path to grandmother's house. However, along the walk, Little Red spots some red apples high up in a tree. He takes off his red jacket in order to climb better to reach the apples. The wolf that has been following him grabs Little Red's jacket and takes off for Little Red's grandmother's house to eat her first. Dressed as Little Red, the very shortsighted grandmother thinks the wolf is her grandson and lets him inside. The wolf swallows the grandmother whole! When Little Red arrives he is worried about his stolen jacket and he looks for his grandmother inside. He finds his grandmother in a dark room and he comments on some of her features that he can make out in the dark. Frightened, he realizes that this "grandmother" is really the wolf! The wolf tries to eat him up for dessert, but Little Red has other plans. He convinces the wolf to try the ginger ale first before eating him. The wolf guzzles down the ale which causes a loud burp. He burps Little Red's grandmother right out! Then Little Red hits the wolf over the head with the ale jug and knocks him out cold. He ties up the wolf. When the wolf awakens, the little boy talks reasonably with him about a trade-off. They come to a compromise and agree that every week Little Red will leave a jug of ginger ale in the woods for the wolf IF the wolf never eats anyone again. The wolf agrees (because the ale is better than humans anyway!) and they both live happily ever after.
This book was very fun to read. I love twisted fairy tales that still contain the positive message for kids. I loved how creative the story was and how the main character in this story is a little boy, rather than a little girl. It's nice for the boys to be represented in fairy tales too! The writing was very clever and engaging. I immediately wanted to know what the twist was when I began reading. I also love, love, love the illustrations. They're very interesting and I've never seen any like them. They have a very spooky vibe to them and it was fun to find little details in each drawing. They are more detailed than they actually appear. I like the overall creepy, scary twist to the story, enhanced mostly by the effective illustrations.
There is some violence in this story, but none that I feel is too inappropriate. Plus, the violence is performed in self-defense so the little boy is not eaten! I think I'd become a little violent as well, if a wolf were going to eat me. There was also the reference to ginger ale a lot. I was assuming this drink was alcoholic, but I didn't know. That could be viewed as inappropriate, but I think it would probably pass over most kids heads anyways. Overall, I loved this remake of Little Red Riding Hood and was very engaged while reading it. Kids would love it!
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