Little Roja Riding Hood
Susan Middleton Elya, illustrated by Susan Guevara
ISBN: 9780399247675
A modern Red sets off to bring Abuelita some hot soup, but a wolf barges in and gets more than he bargained for.
Very similar to her previous Bebe Goes Shopping, with Steven Salerno, which I have used before, a long while back. A bibliography at the beginning gives us all the Spanish terms we need, and thereafter, they're sprinkled through the story with no translation given (nor really needed). Roja heads for Abue with some hot soup, but is distracted by the wolf and the colorful flowers. While she dawdles, he nicks her cloak, books it to Granny, and the traditional exchange is swapped - this time it's sharp Granny (holding a Jesu statue that is giving Lupe some serious side-eye) who is questioning the false "Roja" who is growing ever nearer. Abue's stalling works, Red barges in and douses the wolf with Checkov's hot soup, and the two of them pop online to find the old bird a security system to prevent further incursions. Fun, funny, and sprightly, with poppy rhymes and enough of a difference to be cute without becoming precious.
It is a teensy bit on the long side for a storytime, but it would be great for an event or a Summer Reading Program for the slightly older ones. I might be able to shoehorn it into this summer as a "hero" book, in fact.
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