about the author: Lari Don was born in Chile and brought up in Scotland. She has worked in politics and for the BBC, but now spends her time passing on old stories and making up new ones. She is a traditional storyteller, as well as an award-winning children's author, whose love of myths, legends and fables inspires her fiction. Lari lives in Edinburgh and has also written the Animal Stories series for Barefoot Books. about the artist: Celia Chauffrey is an artist with a wonderful imagination. She has illustrated many books for children and young adults with characters and compositions that are always unexpected, fascinating and emotive. Celia paints in a light-filled room in her home town of Lyon, France. This is her first project with Barefoot Books. about the narrator: Imelda Staunton is an English actress best known for her roles in the Harry Potter film series (in which she played Professor Umbridge), the TV comedy Up the Garden Path and the film Vera Drake. As the title character in Vera Drake, Imelda garnered BAFTA and Venice Film Festival awards for best actress in a leading role, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She has also narrated The Kite Princess for Barefoot Books.
PreS-Gr 3-Don's skillful retelling is grounded in the cautionary tale's traditional cadences and plot but refreshed with unique elements. While the wide-set eyes of the modern girl in the red cloak seem to take in quite a lot, she is, necessarily, naive. After describing her destination and the contents of her basket (lemonade and cakes), Red falls for the wolf's suggestion: "Could you take something else, something which will last a few days?" She stops to pick flowers. Chauffrey's acrylic and pencil scenes are composed of countless delicate strokes, giving the stylized trees, flower-strewn path, and furry beast individual textures that form a highly decorative whole within a palette consisting largely of red, green, gray, and black. The backgrounds contrast with the solid brilliance of the girl and her grandmother's red house, as well as the generous amount of white space that contains the text. Tilted perspectives add to the sense of danger and foreboding that is not felt in vain. This handsome wolf declines cake, and savvy listeners will catch the foreshadowing. Although the two leading ladies are gobbled up, legs last, the hunter comes to the rescue. He is rewarded with cakes, Granny learns to lock her door, and Red "never turned round to talk to strangers again." Imelda Staunton narrates an accompanying CD. Compare this version of the folktale with Jerry Pinkney's Little Red Riding Hood (Little, Brown, 2007) and Niki Daly's Pretty Salma (Clarion, 2007) for an interesting discussion of literary and artistic choices.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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