This is a story of an adorable little girl who was loved. Her grandmother made her a riding hood, made of red velvet. She loved it so much, that she wore it all the time. One day her mom sent her to walk to bring her grandma some cake and wine. On the way a wolf started a conversation with her. She had no idea she was in harm's way. The wolf was very manipulative. He intentionally pointed out beautiful wildflowers that were growing. What he wanted to do was distract Little red riding hood, so he could beat her to her grandma's house. She went off of the path (against what her mom told her), and she went looking for the perfect blossoms to take to her grandma. The wolf ate the grandma then got into bed and pretended to be the grandma. He ate the little girl too. Soon after, a man came to help. He cut the wolf open and saved both the grandma and the little girl. Little red riding hood NEVER went off the path again. A different big bad wolf tried to eat her an another occasion, and her grandmother sensed it. The wolf was on the rooftop waiting. Grandma told the little girl to go dump a pail of water that the grandma had boiled sausages in. Grandma knew that when the greedy wolf smelled the sausages he would jump in and drown. That's exactly what happened. He sniffed his way to the water and looked down and kept smelling until he lost his footing and fell in and died. The end! ( )

This book would be a good book to use for a second grade read aloud. The children could compare and contrast the differences between this version to other versions of Little Red Riding Hood. For fifth grade, this book could be used to discuss folk literature and be an example of one of the subgenres of folk literature. You could also discuss the importance of retellers and how the story is changed from storyteller to story teller.

This book would be really great to do with a 7th grade classroom when discussing folk literature. Folk literature is often told orally and this can lead to the changing of some details. The assignment I would have my students do would be to use either this book or another Grimm Brothers story and compare and contrast in a graphic organizer different versions of the story they have heard or researched. Another activity to do with this book would be to have students break into groups and create a short skit/play of the story that was read to them. After acting out their skit, we would have a classroom discussion to talk about similarities and differences among the different acts.

This book could be used as a read aloud in any elementary english classroom to teach the elements of a short story. This story focuses on plot, theme, setting, point of view, and character. While reading the story, students can fill out a graphic organizer to demonstrate their understanding of the different elements in the short story. After reading, students can use their knowledge to create their own short story similar to Little Red Riding Hood. The students can focus on how their story has a beginning, middle, and end, as well as include a plot, theme, setting, characters, and point of view.

Different themes, values and advice from the story are the importance of family and loyalty, danger, and motives. The story teaches the importance of listening and understanding that adults may not have the innocence younger children have. This in turn teaches that some have different motives than others. While Red Riding Hood wanted to be friendly and polite it’s important to teach children that not everyone has those motives. But the story isn’t all dark; it teaches children the bond a family can have. The strong love Red Riding Hood has for her Grandmother is an important aspect of the story and an important value a child can take from the folktale. The book would be great to use in the classroom not only when teaching about folktales but also about different cultures as well. The illustrator Bernadette Watts does an exceptional job creating a culture on each page. She starts with the clothing. Red Riding Hood has a very village/northern European style to her. Her clothes are simple but are added with boots and an apron making the tale appear older. The houses are very European in the village. The houses are tall houses with numerous families living on each floor; apartment style. The cottage where Grandmother lives is drawn like an old cottage you would see in the Swiss alps.