Title and author | Little Red Riding Hood by Jerry Pinkney | The Wolf’s Story by Toby Forward | Little Red Cowboy Hat by Susan Lowell | Little Red Riding Hood: A New-fangled Prairie Tale by Lisa Campbell Ernst |
Setting | Long ago, cottage in the woods | Grandma’s cottage in the woods, not long ago | Desert, in the wild west, Grandma’s ranch | Midwest prairie, Grandma’s farm |
Good character | Little Red, named for the cape her mother made for her | Wolf, handyman, helps grandma | Little Red Cowboy Hat, named after her cowboy hat and her red hair | Little Red Riding Hood, named after the red hoodie that she wears when she rides her bike |
Villain | Cunning, sly wolf | Little Red, ignores the wolf, blames the wolf to get him in trouble | The wolf | The wolf, who loves muffins |
Conflict (problem) | Wolf tricks LR into dallying in the woods. Wolf eats Grandma. Wolf pretends to be LR’s grandma so he can eat LR up. | Grandma hits her head and gets knocked out. The wolf puts her in the closet and pretends to be her so he won’t get into trouble. | Little Red dallies and the wolf gets to Grandma’s first. He pretends to be Grandma so he can eat her. | The wolf tricks LR into dallying and picking flowers. He sneaks to Grandma’s to steal the recipe. |
Solution | Woodcutter kills the wolf and saves LR and grandma | Little Red discovers he’s not Grandma and calls for help. The woodcutter cuts off his tail. The wolf leaves for the city. | Grandma, who was out chopping wood, comes in and scares the wolf off. | Grandma caught the wolf and made him her employee at her muffin store. |
Magic/fantasy | Wolf can talk Grandma and LR are still alive and well in the wolf’s belly | Talking wolf Wolf can cook vegetarian cuisine Wolf helps a person with errands | Talking wolf | Talking wolf |
3s | LR says, “Oh grandma what big …you have,” three times. | LR says, “Oh grandma what big …you have,” three times. | LR says, “Oh grandma what big …you have,” three times. | The wolf says, “Oh grandma, what big…you have,” three times. |
Lesson/Theme | Don’t talk to strangers. Follow the directions of your elders. | Always be honest, even if you might get into trouble | Sometimes you have to stick up for yourself or those you love. | Don’t talk to strangers. Sometimes you have to protect those you love. |