
Pretty simple. Except, maybe you heard a version where Granny's just locked in the closet. Or maybe the one where Red Riding gets eaten too, but when the woodcutter cuts open the wolf, she and her grandmother are safe and sound inside. Or maybe the one where only Grandma gets eaten, but Red and the woodcutter are able to cut her out and then they fill the wolf's stomach with rocks and sew him back up again. Or perhaps the version where the wolf is actually a werewolf. Or maybe there wasn't a woodcutter at all; Red manages to outwit the wolf with her own sly cleverness by saying she has to pee and then sneaking off into the woods. Or maybe the one where the wolf makes Red take off all her clothes and get in bed with him before he eats her.
Yeah, you didn't see that last one coming, did you?


Of course, these are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to retellings of the story over the years.

One of the most recent adaptations was the young adult book by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright and David Leslie Johnson, which was then adapted for the big screen.
This book returned the fairy tale to some of it's older roots with the wolf as a werewolf/shapeshifter and had some interesting twists and turns to keep you guessing.

If you are interested in the history, you might like Sandra L. Beckett's Red Riding Hood for All Ages: A Fairy-tale Icon in Cross-cultural Contexts. The English Major in me is ALL over that one!
And of course, there are about four billion picture book versions for you to choose from if you want to share one of the simpler tellings with a child in your life, or the child inside :) Such as Honestly, Red Riding Hood was Rotten!; The Story of Little Red Riding Hood as Told by the Wolf by Trisha Speed Shaskan and Gerald Guerlais.
Jackson Pearce recently released Sisters Red, another twist with werewolves and magic and the choices sisters make. Neal Schusterman's Red Rider's Hood presents Red as a teen boy who ends up joining the Wolves gang to get revenge on the death of his grandmother. Ooh! Fascinating!
And, for those of you old enough to remember the old Rocky and Bullwinkle show, I leave you with one of the Fractured Fairy Tale versions!
What's your favorite Red Riding Hood take? Any I forgot? Please share in the comments!
3 comments:
I have to say how much I love that you added a picture of the wolf from Shrek :)
I love retold Fairy Tales. This is awesome.
Love the Fractured Fairy Tale version!
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