Cloaked in Red

I love the way Vivian Vande Velde spins a tale. I've read her Companions of the Night twice and have been wanting to read more of her works. now that I'm on a fairytale retelling kick, I decided to read this collection of short stories around the Little Red Riding Hood tale.

The Author's Note breaks down all the things wrong with the original tales and then we are reintroduced to the tale from different points - mostly Red, the wood cutter, granny and the wolf with one from the cloak.

All are both imaginative and hilarious and some other well known characters make an appearance.

A really quick read for anyone who wants a little more fairytale in their lives.

Once upon a time, after fashion was discovered but before people had makeovers on TV, there was a young girl... Eight fractured fairy tale versions of Little Red Riding Hood! Lots of sarcastic humor and alternative settings, this has oddball humor and mild horror (remember, the original had people eaten and animals carved up). Sometimes the focus is the girl, sometimes the grandmother, sometimes the wolf, and sometimes the woodsman -- and none of the stories quite go in the same direction! Great for anyone who likes asking "what if..." and especially fun for those who like satire. 7th grade and up.

Using the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, "the girl with the unfortunate name and the inability to tell the difference between her grandmother and a member of a different species," as her basis, Vivian Vande Velde presents eight short, humorous tales. The book is worth picking up for Vande Velde's introduction alone, in which she incisively deconstructs the story. The stories, of which "Granny and the Wolf" and "The Little Red Headache" particularly stand out, present a range of viewpoints and variations on the story, from a helpful wolf to an avaricious woodcutter to a werewolf grandmother. Overall, this is an excellent collection for anyone who enjoys retellings, particularly comical ones, of fairy tales.

This is a short collection of eight variations of "Little Red Riding Hood," told from different perspectives, and probably intended for a YA audience. As with most short story collections, I liked some better than others: some left me grinning in appreciation, a few were merely pleasant, none were awful. (My favorites were the one in which the grandmother needed to outwit an annoying woodcutter and the one told from the red cloak's point of view.) But none of the stories was truly gripping, and the book as a whole came across as much as an exercise in retelling a story as it did just a book to be read for fun.

I originally chose this book because I really enjoyed this authors short story in the book Gothic! and really enjoyed her story. I knew that this was a reimagining of the little red riding hood story but i did not know it was just a collection of short stories.

I am surprised at all of the negative reviews for this book. The authors note at the beginning was pretty funny. VVV was pretty much poking fun at herself and the classic story, but some people took that seriously. If you read it knowing that this was her being light hearted and funny it really works, if you think she is being serious in the note then you will hate it.

each short story took a different element from the original and created its own story. in one of the tales you show more have a grandmother who saved a wolf, in another a woman makes a doll in a red hood, a story of two boys who become important in the fairytale world, and a riding hood that has a mind of its own.

These stories had their own touch of magic and while not all of them were 100% perfect they were really fun. There were a few times in the book that I could not help but smile because of the little special things she added such as the smart red cloak eventually finding its way to a man and it helping him leap tall buildings in a single bound. I mean I never thought I would read about a super hero like superman in a book about little red riding hood.

I really think it would be a fun book to read to a younger audience or better yet have them read it to you. Don't let the average rating deter you, go in knowing that the book is just about having fun with a classic tale and you will enjoy it. show less

8 short stories that are variations of Little Red Riding Hood. Imaginative and thought provoking. I liked the fresh look of the story and how the villain is not always the wolf.

This collection was a lot of fun. Vivian Vande Velde retells the story of "Little Red Riding Hood" eight different times in eight different ways. These stories range from the amusing to the even more amusing.