Gwen Connelly

Little red ringing hood in this book got her red cloak from her mother and a basket of goodies to take to grandmother. Along the way she meets someone who will walk with her for a little while just to see what is in the basket and to come up wit a plan to get the basket. Little red riding hood went on to her grandmother's house and there she realized it was not grandmother, but someone scary. She thought the wolf ate her grandmother and was very sad. After she called for help the wolf ran away and she found grandmother. Little red riding hood is a classic story to tell from memory and you can make it your own also. This story was new to me because I do not remember a man coming to scare off the wolf. This version of the story was not that good to me because she did not say "oh what big eyes you have" or "oh what big ears u have". That is my favorite part of the original story. An extension to this version of the story could be that grandmother tells little red riding hood how the wolf got in and hide her. Another extension could show the wolf coming up with another plan to get the basket of goodies after he was scared out of the house such as, dressing up as a mail man.… (mehr)

Summary: A little girl is on her way to visit her grandmother when she stops to pick some flowers. A wolf appears just as she stops to pick some flowers. The wolf takes off to grandmother's house before the little girl arrives and hides the grandmother. The little girl becomes afraid and calls for help. A man comes to her rescue and the wolf runs away. The grandmother is found safe and sound.

Personal Reaction: I enjoyed this book because it is a great beginners book. Harder words are repeated so that the child can catch on to reading it on their own. This book leaves out some of the details that are sometimes scary to small children, but still gives a similar storyline. The illustrations make it easy to follow along with the story.

Extension Ideas: Take a paper plate and some black and brown construction paper and let each child create their own "bad" wolf. Talk to the kids about stranger danger and never go somewhere alone.

Print a chart with boxes. Place a picture of each character of the story at the bottom of each column. Make a small box with each character on each side in the shape of a cube. Have children pair up with each other. Take turns rolling the cube and color each square on the graph to see what character fills up first.… (mehr)

Summary:
A little girl runs into a wolf as she is picking flowers on her way to take her grandmother something to eat. The wolf finds out she is headed to her grandmother's house and beats her there. When the girl gets to her destination, she realizes the wolf has taken the place of her grandmother. The girl cries for help and a woodsman comes in and scares the wolf away. The grandmother safely comes out and is reunited with the girl.

Personal Reaction:
Like the girl in this book, I think it's easy for a child to be unaware of the dangers that lurk in the outside world. As a mother, I'm constantly trying to teach my children how to be safe. Reading this book also gives me a good memory. It reminds me of my grandma because she used to tell me this story when I was younger.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
In the classroom, I could have the students 1) invite a grandparent to bring his/her favorite book/story to the classroom or 2) have someone (e.g. a policeman) come in and talk about safety.… (mehr)