I have always been fascinated by fairy tales and Red Riding Hood has always had a special place in my affections. Indeed it was the inspiration for the title of my weblog so I was particularly delighted to receive a copy of this:

The Cat, the Dog, Little Red, the Exploding Eggs, the Wolf and Grandma’s Wardrobe
Diane and Christyan Fox
Words & Pictures (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books)
I always encourage children to ask questions about stories, though I prefer questions to be saved to the end of the reading rather than during the story. The irrepressible, superhero-obsessed Dog in this tale however insists on keeping up a constant flow of questions right through the whole of Cat’s reading of Little Red Riding Hood. Here’s his first interjection on learning the story is about a little girl who wears a red hooded cloak: “Cool! I love stories about superheroes. What’s her special power?” Cat continues reading about the basket of food and ‘dainties’ she’s taking to her grandmother.
“So, kindness is her special power? Does she hypnotise bad guys into being nice? … I bet she zaps him with her KINDNESS RAY.” Cat is beginning to get exasperated. Dog too; a clear case of misunderstanding – crime fighting without a zapper?

Exploding eggs? Whack the bad guy with a dainty? Now Cat too, despite his increasing exasperation, starts to see the story is not without its faults… ‘ “There’s NO kindness ray, NO flying basket and NO exploding eggs. She’s just a sweet little girl with terrible fashion sense on her way to see her grandmother.” ‘
The whole thing gets more and more hilarious as Dog’s imagination runs wild and Cat tries his best to keep his cool, eventually reaching his favourite part: ‘ “She arrived and said, “What big eyes you have Grandma,” and the wolf replied, All the better to see you with.” Whereupon Dog expresses disgust with the heroine. “She’s not very bright is she? I mean if there were a wolf dressed up as MY grandma, I might have noticed right away.” and then with the traditional fairy tale “And they all lived happily ever after.” finale.

He even questions its suitability as a book for children. His summary of the whole thing is absolutely superb. But it’s his last (so he says) question that causes Cat to throw in the book – literally.
I’d be surprised if you can read this aloud without breaking into fits of giggles: I certainly couldn’t. The combination of uncrushable characters, chucklesome text and spare, brilliantly expressive cartoon style illustrations with sparingly-used splashes of colour make for an unforgettable read.
This one has a wide age appeal and is a real boon to teachers wanting to explore fairy tales with a class of older children.

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