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.
Showing posts with label Red Riding Hood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Red Riding Hood. Show all posts
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Storytelling: Flossie and the Fox, Patricia McKissack (Red Riding Hood)
You might have noticed by now that I enjoy slightly non-standard fairy-tales, or at least versions of them that are enriched by new environments and cultures. Another classic Southern version of a fairy tale that I would dearly love to tell is a version of Red Riding Hood called Flossie and the Fox, put into beautiful picture book form by Patricia McKissack and illustrated by Rachel Isadora. If you've never read it, I encourage you do check it out; it's a perfect blend of cheeky humor and serious storytelling chops.
According to the book itself, this version was told to Ms McKissack when she was a child, by her own storytelling grandfather. More in-depth research is going to be needed to discover whether that story was his alone, or (as I suspect) a "local" version that reflected the lives and circumstances of the people living in that time and place. I'm really hoping that it turns out to be the latter, so that I can help spread the story along myself in the future.
Much like Red Riding Hood in the classic story, Flossie is a young girl who is tasked with traveling though the woods alone with a basket. The circumstances and the heroine of this story are quite different, and that's why I like it so much. In Red Riding Hood, Red is an innocent, and she's totally taken in by the wolf, and too stupid (or innocent) to notice the dramatic and pointed differences in dear old granny. This of course culminates in the ending where both Red and granny have to be saved by a third party introduced for that sole purpose. None of that passive innocence here - Flossie is a force to be reckoned with.
Like Red, she is carrying a basket, but in Flossie's case, taking eggs to a neighbor whose hens have been scared off of laying by a roaming fox. Now, Flossie holds that she's never seen a fox before, but she's perfectly willing to do the neighborly thing and make sure those eggs get to the neighbor.
Once in the woods, our fox approaches, but unlike dear sweet innocent Red Riding Hood, Flossie has this encounter (and the several which follow) totally under control. Her sweet innocent game completely sideswipes the poncy fox, who is distraught that this slip of a girl won't believe he is even a fox, let alone that she should be afraid of him! He brings in various other animals to help plead his case, but the girl stubbornly refuses to see reason - that is, until the neighbor's house (and the resident hunting dogs) comes into sight, and the dogs recognize the fox perfectly well. Isadora's final illustration of Flossie's bright grin is a perfect ending to the picture book, making sure readers are in on the joke.
I hope that I can find some alternate versions of this story, because between the plucky clever heroine and the gorgeous Southern idioms, I really want to tell this story over and over and over again.
Flossie and the Fox
Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Rachel Isadora
ISBN: 0803702507
According to the book itself, this version was told to Ms McKissack when she was a child, by her own storytelling grandfather. More in-depth research is going to be needed to discover whether that story was his alone, or (as I suspect) a "local" version that reflected the lives and circumstances of the people living in that time and place. I'm really hoping that it turns out to be the latter, so that I can help spread the story along myself in the future.
Much like Red Riding Hood in the classic story, Flossie is a young girl who is tasked with traveling though the woods alone with a basket. The circumstances and the heroine of this story are quite different, and that's why I like it so much. In Red Riding Hood, Red is an innocent, and she's totally taken in by the wolf, and too stupid (or innocent) to notice the dramatic and pointed differences in dear old granny. This of course culminates in the ending where both Red and granny have to be saved by a third party introduced for that sole purpose. None of that passive innocence here - Flossie is a force to be reckoned with.
Like Red, she is carrying a basket, but in Flossie's case, taking eggs to a neighbor whose hens have been scared off of laying by a roaming fox. Now, Flossie holds that she's never seen a fox before, but she's perfectly willing to do the neighborly thing and make sure those eggs get to the neighbor.
Once in the woods, our fox approaches, but unlike dear sweet innocent Red Riding Hood, Flossie has this encounter (and the several which follow) totally under control. Her sweet innocent game completely sideswipes the poncy fox, who is distraught that this slip of a girl won't believe he is even a fox, let alone that she should be afraid of him! He brings in various other animals to help plead his case, but the girl stubbornly refuses to see reason - that is, until the neighbor's house (and the resident hunting dogs) comes into sight, and the dogs recognize the fox perfectly well. Isadora's final illustration of Flossie's bright grin is a perfect ending to the picture book, making sure readers are in on the joke.
I hope that I can find some alternate versions of this story, because between the plucky clever heroine and the gorgeous Southern idioms, I really want to tell this story over and over and over again.
Flossie and the Fox
Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Rachel Isadora
ISBN: 0803702507
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Blood Red, Mercedes Lackey
Blood Red
Mercedes Lackey
ISBN: 9780756408978
Read June 18, 2014
Elemental Masters "Series"
Another Elemental Masters book, this one reworking Red Riding Hood, and I like it. It's a little rough around the edges, but nothing near so irritating as Unnatural Issue was, and a much more original story than Steadfast. I liked it about as much as I liked Home from the Sea.
I do think the whole "prejudice" character conflict was a bit wedged in there, but that didn't detract from the story too badly.
On the other hand, I'm greatly pleased that we didn't end this with a wedding or romance, which was delightful.
Rosa is an Earth Master, and she was studying with her Grossmutter before a shifter (werewolf) viciously attacked and killed the old lady, and tried to kill Rosa, who defended herself by calling upon the aid of the Earth spirits of the forest. Now Rosa is a Hunter, and uses her talents to rid forests and villages of vampires, rogue magicians, and werewolves. A social vacation at a White Lodge is interrupted by a pair of cousins who bring word of an ancient and continuous predation upon a part of Romania, and the trio heads out to investigate what they believe will be a single mad sorcerer. If only it were so simple.
Mercedes Lackey
ISBN: 9780756408978
Read June 18, 2014
Elemental Masters "Series"
Another Elemental Masters book, this one reworking Red Riding Hood, and I like it. It's a little rough around the edges, but nothing near so irritating as Unnatural Issue was, and a much more original story than Steadfast. I liked it about as much as I liked Home from the Sea.
I do think the whole "prejudice" character conflict was a bit wedged in there, but that didn't detract from the story too badly.
On the other hand, I'm greatly pleased that we didn't end this with a wedding or romance, which was delightful.
Rosa is an Earth Master, and she was studying with her Grossmutter before a shifter (werewolf) viciously attacked and killed the old lady, and tried to kill Rosa, who defended herself by calling upon the aid of the Earth spirits of the forest. Now Rosa is a Hunter, and uses her talents to rid forests and villages of vampires, rogue magicians, and werewolves. A social vacation at a White Lodge is interrupted by a pair of cousins who bring word of an ancient and continuous predation upon a part of Romania, and the trio heads out to investigate what they believe will be a single mad sorcerer. If only it were so simple.
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