Mabel Watts (1906–1994)

The lessons at Zachary Zween's school seem to consist solely of taking walking tours of London. And since his last name begins with Z, Zween is always last in line, bringing up the tail end.

He is jealous of Albert Ames for a while, since Ames always gets to go first, but Zween is able to find the silver lining to his position in life. (Wait! Is this all a metaphor for the English class system?)

I only wish the climax of the story didn't have Zween being unable to fit in the passenger cars show more with the rest of his classmates and getting an invitation from a train employee to "Ride with me, son, in my van!" -- like a predator picking off the straggler from a herd. Talk about creepy! show less

This book... Well, it may be a little bit of a stretch to say it changed my life, but damn near. I'm not really sure WHY, exactly, but this book has been very very dear to me since before I was even able to read. It's a cute little book about a vet trying to enjoy her day off with her daughter, but emergencies keep coming up and they have to go help the animals. A dog, a cat, a horse... And it's so sweet because they had this great day planned, but they put the animals first and it turns out show more to be a great day anyways. For a long time I thought I had lost this book, and searched all over the internet but couldn't figure out the title. I found it a few weeks ago in an old trunk I have, and all the memories came flooding back. This is one of the few "special" books I *know* I'll keep until I die. show less

ISBN 0307001342 – With so many re-tellings of this wonderful, classic story, I thought it best to try to keep the editions straight. This edition is retold by Mabel Watts, illustrated by Joe Ewers. It's hard to imagine anyone going wrong with Little Red Riding Hood; Watts cleaned up the violence in the original, a negative for fans of the classic tale, but maybe a positive for parents who worry about these things. Ewers' illustrations are nice, they vaguely remind me of the Saturday show more morning cartoons of the 1970s.

Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother isn't feeling well, so she and her mother pack a basket of goodies that Little Red Riding Hood will take to her. Cautioned to stay on the path and go directly to Grandmother's without talking to strangers, Little Red Riding Hood tries to do as she's told. The wolf, however, distracts her and convinces her to pick flowers for Grandmother, giving him time to get to Grandmother's house first. Grandmother is scared off by his arrival – will help arrive before Little Red Riding Hood is eaten up by the wolf posing as Grandmother?

I'm a fan of the original tale. I know there are parents who, wanting to keep their child from ever reading, seeing or hearing anything scary, have influence storytellers to re-write them, and that's great – for them. If you're one of them, this is a better edition for you. Grandmother, Little Red Riding Hood and even the wolf, all go unharmed. It's just not quite the same. To nitpick, I'm not overly familiar with life in a cottage in the woods, but I did find Little Red Riding Hood's addition of colored jelly beans to the basket for her grandmother a bit odd. They don't seem to be the sort of thing one would pick in the wild, and I think the stores are severely limited in the woods. An all right re-telling, geared toward over-protective parents, but not the story you remember.

- AnnaLovesBooks show less

I really liked this book for two reasons. The first reason I liked this book was because of the pictures. They aren't like normal picture books in that they look like they are actually drawn. I believe the media that was used was crayons. I like this because it brings the reader in more because they feel more equal to the writer and illustrator. Another reason that I liked this book was for the plot. This writer changed had Little Red Riding Hood saved by her grandmother and the woodcutter. show more Even though this part of the book is supposed to be scary, the writer does a good job of making it light and able for children to read. I think the main idea of this book is that you should always listen to your parents. show less