#cbr11bingo #Classic
I knew that Beatrix Potter had written outside the Peter Rabbit series but was not as familiar with them as I might have been. And I certainly did not realize she had written a slight retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood story in Red Riding Hood. This is the traditionally-traditional Little Red story as it is darker and is more of a nod to the original tale. The illustrator, Helen Oxenbury, has an introduction that tells of how Potter’s edition is closer to Charles Perrault’s version; as well as Oxenbury’s own journey to finding this tale and her feelings about why and what she did with the illustrations.
The story is the obvious one: Red gets a clock, goes off in the woods, meets the wolf and then finds said wolf in Grandma’s clothing. There are some changes you may or may not know (there are multiple woodsmen and not the usual one; plus, Potter mentions the mother and grandmother slightly differently at the start). Since there really is not anything “new” to the story, it is only a three. We have seen it all before. But due to Oxenbury’s illustrations (which are classic Oxenbury) this book is a five. Her art has a few “softer” spots that counter the less than happy parts (such as the endings for both Grandma and Red). They are rich with color and detail, but not over powering.
If I was gift giving, I would find this book a home with collectors of fairy tales, or collectors of Little Red Riding Hood stories or collectors of Oxenbury. I would not give it to a very young child (this is not your “Disney” version) but possibly five and up. I would even give it up to an eight or nine-year-old even.