Little Red Writing

A yellow no. 2 pencil instructs her students on how to write a story:

Story Path
1. Idea, characters, setting
2. Trouble
3. Even bigger trouble
4. Fix the trouble

Little Red sets off to write her story, asking herself, "What would a brave pencil do?" Her teacher gives her a basket of words to use on her journey, and she eventually faces the villain in principal's clothing - the Wolf 3000 pencil sharpener!

At once a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and a template for how to write a story, this gets an A+.

When it's time for all the students to write a story, Little Red wants her to be full of adventures -- but what kind of adventures can a small pencil get into while at school? Then she hears a strange growl, so Little Red decides to be brave and investigate the cause ... leading to an encounter with the Wolf 3000!

This is a very fun and clever story. It takes the basic story structure of the classic "Little Red Riding Hood" story but weaves it into a lesson on nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs as well as an understanding of how stories are constructed. It definitely would appeal more to a slightly older elementary school-age audience who is already familiar with both the fairy tale and the language concepts. Children who enjoy books such show more as Exclamation Mark by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka will likely also get a kick out of this title.

The illustrations fit the writing style perfectly and help to further the story. show less

Richie's Picks: LITTLE RED WRITING by Joan Holub and Melissa Sweet, ill.
Chronicle, October 2013, 36p., ISBN: 978-0-8118-7869-2

"All of your comments and your cutting remarks
Are captured here in my quotation marks"
-- Elvis Costello, "Everyday I Write the Book"

"Little Red knocked on the door.
"'Come in,' said a growly voice.
"'Greetings, Little Pencil. Grrreat to see you,' said Principal Granny.
"Little Red was suspicious. 'I'd like to report hearing a growly voice.
And you know what? It sounded kind of like yours,' said Little Red.
"'The better to be hearrrd on the school intercom,' said Principal Granny.
"I'd also like to report that I saw a long, tangly tail. I can't help
noticing that you have a tangly tail, too,' said Little Red.
"'The show more better to get charged up for my school duties when batteries are
rrrunning low,' said Principal Granny.
"'I'd also like to report I have just noticed what big sharp teeth you
have,' said Little Red.
"'The better to chomp little pencils like you and grind them up,' growled
Principal Granny who in reality was...the Wolf 3000™ the grumpiest,
growliest, pencil sharpener ever made.
"Just as the Wolf 3000 began to chase Little Red, in walked Mr. Woodcutter
the janitor.
"'Who made this mess?'
"'Help!' cried Little Red. 'I think the Wolf 3000 has sharpened Principal
Granny to smithereens!'"

LITTLE RED WRITING, a tale about anthropomorphic pencils -- with Little
Red's teacher being yellow Ms. 2 -- is a mind-blowingly hysterical picture
book about the process of writing stories. The vehicle through which this
tale teaches elementary and middle schoolers how to craft stories is the
best take-off on the Little Red Riding Hood tale that I have ever in my life
encountered.

At the beginning of the book, Ms. 2 has written on the board four steps to
creating a story path:
1. Idea, characters, setting
2. Trouble
3. Even more trouble
4. Fix trouble

In Holub and Sweet's demonstration of this path through the ensuing wacky
pencils-in-peril story, readers are introduced to strategies employed and
parts of speech used in story creation including nouns, descriptive words,
adjectives, conjunctive glue, adverbs, action words, run-on sentences, and
onomatopoeia.

Illustrator Melissa Sweet who, lately, has been responsible for
illustrating what seems to be one award-winning book after another, uses her
distinctive and lively style here to bring this crazy bunch of pencils (and the
electric pencil sharpener) to life. The result is a very funny picture book
that, I guarantee you, lots of savvy teachers will be eagerly sharing with
students as part of the process of teaching creative writing. show less

from James:

I chortled, chuckled and grinned while reading this imaginative picture book to my kindergartener last night. I’m sure most of the puns were above his head, but it was still familiar enough territory that he could follow along.

If I were a writing teacher, I think this would be fun and helpful book to share with my class…no matter their age. It details the perils and advantages to having a basket-full of useful words and punctuation. I’m glad to see that the art of fractured fairy tales is still alive and well.

The theme of the book was that it does not take away from one’s bravery to be scared. The theme is worthwhile because often kids are very hard on themselves. It emphasizes that everyone gets scared but it does not detract from the outcome. I would say that the illustrations did enhance the book because the colors she used as well as the motion of the illustrations helped fortify the emotions being described in the text. It's a very encouraging book for children to read!

When Mrs. 2 told her pencil class that they would be writing a story, Little Red wanted to write an exciting story about bravery. That was when Little Red decided to go on an adventure to write her story. She was soon sprung into action as she came across the deciduous forest full of adjectives. She used scissors and glue to stick to the story path. Then she ran into some adverbs. By the time she reached the middle of her story, the problem arrived. Little Red "abandoned all rules of punctuation and sentence structure in panic" when she heard the growl. Then Little Red decided to show some bravery and follow the tail that trailed ahead of her. When she finally arrived in Principal Granny's office, she reported the growl, but was show more suspicious of Principal Granny because she sure sounded a lot like that growling voice. Then she realized that it had been Wolf 3000, the "grumpiest, growliest, grindingest pencil sharpener ever made!" Little Red quickly used her word basket to throw the word dynamite at Wolf 3000. Wolf 3000 exploded into pieces and Little Red saved the day! What an exciting story she would have to share with her class now!
This is a fun version of Little Red Riding Hood that encourages readers to write. It also sends a message of bravery as Little Red bravely takes on Wolf 3000. It is perfect for young readers. show less

"Little Red Writing" is the story of a red pencil who is learning how to write stories. This is a very witty book, with some cute puns and play on words. Little Red has to save the school principal, who has been taken prisoner by the Wolf 3000 pencil sharpener. In order to save the day, Little Red has to write a story of bravery, and save the principal from being sharpened up! Illustrations in this story are part pictures, and part comic format. I like all of the details in the pictures. This is a book where you have to really examine the pictures, as there is a lot of fun detail that you don't want to miss.