Monday, March 17, 2014

Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood

I've been on a fairy tale and folk tale kick lately, and recently discovered a version of Little Red Riding Hood that is now my absolute favorite telling of the story.

Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood
by Mike Artell
Illustrated by Jim Harris
Perfect for: 5-8 years old

The text is written in Creole dialect and rhyme, and is fun to read aloud.  The pictures and characters are hilarious.  Petite Rouge (a duck) is on her way to take her sick grand-mere a basket full of gumbo and boudin.  She is in her pirogue making her way through the swamp when she is stopped by the hungry gator named Claude.

*Claude is the character that makes the story.  A humorous crocodile makes for a lively alternative to the big bad wolf.  I think you'll agree after you read it!*

When Petite Rouge refuses to hand over the food, Claude heads to Grand-mere's.  Grand-mere is so scared that she hides in the closet, and large Claude is shown in Grand-mere's little bed wearing her little pajamas, yellow flippers, and a pretend beak that hardly covers his mouth.  Petite Rouge arrives and the rest of the book is filled with cleverness and a wild chase.

The dialect, creative twist, comical characters, and illustrations all combine to make one great telling of this old tale. 

Happy reading!

Emily

4 comments:

  1. Love the sound of this book! Apart from being a huge fan of Cajun music, my children call my mother 'grandmere' so this could be really fun for them to read with her! #kidsbookaweek

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  2. This sounds like a fun twist on the classic Red Riding Hood story. It would be great to read aloud. Thank you so much for linking up with #kidsbookaweek it is lovely to see what you have been reading x

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  3. I love this kind of cultural twisting of fairy tales! Thanks for sharing this at Booknificent Thursday! Looking forward to seeing what you have to share this week!
    Tina

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  4. This looks fantastic!! It's great having characters that make a book memorable - and it appears that Claude is the perfect addition to this story. :)

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