From the Publisher
A feisty, bike-riding heroine, her tractor-driving grandmother, and a wolf with a hankering for Grandma's award-winning wheat berry muffins — this is not your grandmother's Little Red Riding Hood!
Publishers Weekly
These are desperate times for big bad wolves-heroines just don't act dainty and frightened anymore. In this witty version of the classic fairy tale, set among America's amber waves of grain, Grandma drives a tractor and doesn't think much of pesky predators. One day, Little Red Riding Hood-nicknamed for her scarlet sweatshirt-decides to take some wheat berry muffins (made from a secret recipe) to Grandma's prairie home. As she pedals her bike through the fields, she meets the wolf, who learns of her plan. This gives the wolf an idea: ``[I'll] surprise that feeble old granny and steal her recipe.... Soon I'll hold the secret to those delectable muffins.'' Grandma, of course, is having none of it. After striking terror into the wolf's heart she shares a batch of muffins with him, then puts him to work in her kitchen. Ernst's (Ginger Jumps) smooth pastel, ink and pencil illustrations, rendered in dry-grass gold, aqua blue and soft green, suggest the ever-so-slightly rolling terrain of the Midwest; the full-bleed spreads, with rectangular windows for the text, are artfully composed. Best of all, the author includes the secret recipe for wheat berry muffins-they're delicious. Ages 5-10. (Sept.)
Children's Literature
Ernst, in her "newfangled prairie tale," gives us a real treat. The errand is to bring muffins to Grandma. Little Red Riding Hood delivers them on her bicycle. The wolf wants to eat the muffins, not the grandmother, and he tries to trick the girl by telling her to pick flowers for Grandma. But Grandma turns out to be much more than a sweet little old lady, and she's more than a match for a bullying wolf. The solution, and the recipe, will satisfy everyone.
Children's Literature
Several authors have reinvented some of our favorite fairy tales lately, jazzing them up with modern conventions and inventions, offering the tale from a different perspective, and so on. This one, however, falls short. In this Little Red Riding Hood tale, the setting is the Midwestern prairie, and Red rides a bicycle. During a trip to Grannie's to deliver wholesome wheat berry muffins (recipe included) and cold lemonade, she is accosted by the wolf who sneaks off to Grannie's ahead of Red. Granny is not ill-she's a farmer out plowing, who not only catches this neer-do-gooder, but eventually puts him to work in her muffin shop as the baker. A tale to use with older readers to compare and contrast previous iterations and illustrations.
School Library Journal
K-Gr 3-The subtitle tells readers that this is not the traditional ``Little Red Riding Hood.'' Here, our heroine wears a hooded red jacket while bike riding. Knowing Grandma ``gets crabby in the heat,'' she decides to take her muffins and lemonade. Along the way, she meets the wolf, who, of course, decides to race Little Red to Grandma's house. Instead of the expected frail, bedridden old woman, he finds a feisty, muffin-baking, tractor-driving grandmother who puts that big bad wolf in his place. Once reformed, he becomes Grandma's baking assistant. (The muffin recipe is included.) Little Red learns her lesson about talking to strangers. Readers will delight in the comical tale and unpredictable plot twists. Ernst's now familiar large colorful line-and-wash paintings featuring cartoon characters are a perfect complement to the playful story. The spirited illustrations and rollicking narrative make this an ideal read-aloud choice.-Heide Piehler, Shorewood Public Library, WI
BookList
Yet another fractured fairy tale, but one that feels fresh in Ernst's capable hands. This Red Riding Hood is a little kid on the prairie, who wears a hooded sweatshirt as she pedals along to Grandma's. When the wolf appears, it's not Grandma he wants but her secret recipe for muffins. But Grandma, out in the field on her tractor, is way smarter than the wolf. She spots him, shakes him, and eventually puts him to work in her muffin shop. It turns out that she's the "original" Red Riding Hood and used to dealing with big baddies. Ernst cleverly carries out her concept down to the muffin recipe on the endpapers. As always in her books, one of the big attractions is the art, oversize (great for story hours) and gloriously goofy. This would work well with primary-graders, who will relish the send-up.
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