Little Red Riding Hood and the Dragon

October 1, 2022
A Chinese Little Red Riding Hood meets a dragon in the woods. A gentle, bespectacled gray wolf would like to set the record straight about the old folktale "about a girl in a red cape." The real story, the wolf recounts, is about a girl who lived in China in the shadow of the Great Wall. Accompanied by cartoon animation-style art, the tale mimics the Western version of the story, with Chinese cultural details incorporated throughout (for instance, bringing Nǎinai herbal soup and a rice cake) and a big bad dragon as her adversary. Nǎinai gets gobbled up, and Dragon jumps into bed wearing her nightgown and cap. "What large hands you have!" Little Red exclaims. "All the better to hold you with," Dragon replies. And so on. However, once Little Red has also been gobbled up and no woodsman comes to the rescue, she takes matters into her own hands. Inside Dragon's stomach, after reuniting with Nǎinai, Little Red finds various items with which to antagonize him, such as a Chinese yo-yo that bounces around and silk ribbons that tickle Dragon's insides. In a delightful illustration showing the cross section of the creature's long stomach, Little Red even deploys her kung fu moves. Finally, she splashes the pungent herbal soup about to make the dragon retch, and out comes everything in his stomach. Page compositions and backgrounds may be run-of-the-mill, but the colorful characters, including Dragon, are adorably expressive. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A fun addition to the fractured fairy-tale bookshelf. (author's note, more information on the items in the dragon's belly) (Picture book. 4-8)

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October 17, 2022
Taking a village near China’s Great Wall as this story’s setting, Chang Compestine empowers with a retelling that casts the red-hooded heroine as a kung fu performer. A bespectacled, “gentle” gray wolf opens, offering to tell “the real story.” As Little Red heads to Na˘inai’s carrying an herbal soup and a “big, sweet rice cake,” a long lean dragon, depicted in Ang’s sleek digital illustrations with golden eyes and a green mane, becomes the villain, suggesting that the child stray from the path to dig ginseng root. Once consumed by the beast, Little Red finds within its belly a yo-yo, silk ribbons, a drum, and a suona—tools she uses in combination with martial arts to escape. Throughout, the girl demonstrates courage as she comforts Na˘inai and vanquishes the dragon for a jubilant conclusion that still manages to cast doubt on the wolf’s trustworthiness. An author’s note and glossary conclude. Ages 4–8.

November 1, 2022
Preschool-Grade 2 Compestine resets "Little Red Riding Hood" in China, giving it a dragon instead of a wolf and a protagonist capable of rescuing herself. When Little Red's nǎinai falls ill, the girl heads out in her favorite red kung-fu cape carrying a basket of healing soup and rice cakes. On her walk, Little Red meets a clever dragon, who tricks her into gathering ginseng while he goes and gobbles up poor Nǎinai. Little Red soon joins Nǎinai in the dragon's stomach, and this is where the story really gets good: Little Red finds other objects the dragon has swallowed (a Chinese yo-yo, silk ribbons, drums, and more) and uses her smarts and kung fu to escape from the dragon's belly. Ang uses red and gold throughout her illustrations, which wonderfully evoke the setting near China's Great Wall. The human characters are sweetly depicted, and the serpentine dragon never feels too menacing. In the author's note, Compestine explains the connections between the classic tale and her Chinese background, including a pictorial guide to the objects in the dragon's stomach.

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