Pistes d'exploration

Read the title, end papers and description on the back cover. With a partner, make predictions about the story. Share these with the class.

As you read, compare the story with the original fairy tale. Do you think you would like the story more or less if you weren’t familiar with Little Red Riding Hood?

Look closely at the pictures. How does the illustrator communicate action in still pictures? Do you think his techniques are effective?

Retell the story from the point of view of Red Riding Hood or the Grandmother.

Write a review of the book. Be specific about the elements you like and dislike.

Read the title, end papers and description on the back cover. With a partner, make predictions about the story. Share these with the class.

After reading, compare and contrast this story with the standard tale of Red Riding Hood, or with another fractured version such as Scieszka’s in The Stinky Cheese Man.

Read and compile a glossary of the English words related to martial arts. Write a short definition of each term and add illustrations.

Write a note to Red, Gran or Wolf to congratulate them for their success in Ninja or Yoga school. Reuse phrases indicating success from the text.

The Cat, the Dog, Little Red, the Exploding Eggs, the Wolf, and Grandma

Mots-clés

Fairy Tale , Humour , fractured stories , illustrations (cartoon) , ninjas , Red Riding Hood , stories in rhyme

Commentaire descriptif

In this contemporary twist on a fairy tale and companion to The Three Ninja Pigs, Wolf’s craving for meat sends him to classes at the local dojo where he trains to be a Ninja. Little does he know that the mouth-watering prey he meets is also a master of martial arts. Told from the wolf’s point of view, each page or spread consists of short rhyming text, peppered with theme-related vocabulary (e.g. dojo, kiya, gi). When readers first meet him, they discover a frustrated carnivore who can’t find an easy target, a sorry wolf who keeps “getting lickedby the dinner he picked” and is “growing more ticked by the day.” Bold full-bleed illustrations convey a strong sense of movement and action, the product of Sumi brushwork on rice paper and Adobe Photoshop. Readers will laugh out loud at the comical moves and facial expressions of the wolf in grandma’s lipstick and robe trying to fend off Red as they engage in the narrative’s lively Ninja-fighting sequence. A witty read-aloud, full of nonstop action that will appeal to both boys and girls, this book sends an empowering message that anyone, regardless of age and gender, can learn to protect themselves and thwart danger.