Christopher Bing

This volume of Little Red Riding Hood contained three versions of the tale. Although there is a happy ending with Grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood being saved in the first version, I thought it was too gory for children. The wolf devoured both of them before they were cut of his stomach at the end, which seemed to be horrifying for a young child. In the next version, no one was eaten, which made the story much more pleasant for a child. In the third, retold by Charles Perrault, there show more is no happy ending as both Grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood are once again devoured by the wolf. This time no one comes to rescue them. On a positive note, the illustrations were lively and realistic.
Altogether, the moral of the story in each of the three versions of the tale, remained the same. This story teaches young children not to trust just anyone. Strangers can portray themselves as charming and lovable, but in reality, they can be deceitful and intend to harm you. This is why many parents tell their children not to speak to strangers. show less

This version came to my attention as I was examining Bing's take on Little Black Sambo, which is refreshingly done. I didn't care for his Red. She is just too perky and adorable. And the story ends with a caution of the wolves outside and also the 'tame wolves' we let in. So are girls to fear all males? Some of the realistic art details are very nice - the flowered fabric scrap and the thimble on the back cover.

The Story of Little Red Riding Hood by the Grimm brothers and illustrated by Christopher Bing is a wonderful fairy-tale. The tale has not been altered in any way from the original Grimm publication, and the artwork is incredible. Bing used bright and intense watercolor illustrations that are almost dream-like in a sense. The illustrations are also very realistic with fine detail. The artwork really captures the reader’s attention, especially with the old storybook feel, and Bing has done show more an amazing job capturing the essence of the traditional fairy-tale.

This book really stands out from other tales of Red Riding Hood because there are actually three versions of the tale inside. The main story with Bing’s illustrations is the Grimm version, but at the end there is a different and shortened version of the telling with illustrations by Christopher Bing as well. The third telling of the tale comes in the form of a little booklet that is attached on the last page, and this is Charles Perrault’s version.

I think this book is fantastic because it incorporates three different versions of the classic fairy-tale, but all three tales are meant for older children (grades 2 and up). Many younger children would not be able to understand the language, and are likely to find the subject matter too scary or mature, as the three tales are told with blunt honesty and were not changed to be subtle and gentle for younger readers.

The Story of Little Red Riding Hood has received many positive reviews, but has yet to win any awards. show less

Then Story of Little Red Riding Hood tells the story I've heard of Little Red Riding Hood many times before. While reading this book I could not help but focus on the illustrations. On each page there was a picture of a page. The illustration was of a book within a book. The ends of the pages looked like there were more pages drawn to look like an old, thick book. The illustration of what was happening in the story was within a frame. However, other things were drawn outside of the frame. show more These things outside of the frame coordinated with what was happening at the moment in the story. When little Red is picking flowers, flowers are drawn on the page. At the end of the story when they are sitting and eating with the huntsmen, coffee mug stain rings and crumbs were over the words on the page.
Also at the end of the story on smaller pages in black and white was another short story about a time Little Red encountered a wolf on her way to grandmother's house. On the last page was also another story "The Tale of Little Red Riding Hood" pasted on the back. Wishing one book, the reader is able to read three different stories of Little red and the wolf. show less