


One good way to teach them about how bad the real world can be is by introducing them to some of that nastiness – in a measured dose – via fairytales. Our world is not always a safe place, and to prepare our children for it, we need to introduce them to the real world in bits and pieces. There is so much to see in each picture, and as a fun bonus, she has hidden Red Riding Hood's black cat on almost every page, there to be found by a sharp-eyed child.īut the peril is another key reason. So why is this traditional tale the better by far version? There are many reasons, and they start with Trina Schart Hyman's art. First the wolf eats his fill then he gets his comeuppance. If that is a bit of a shock to you, then the version you were told as a child was likely some modernized, bubble-wrapped rendition in which grandma is shut up in a closet rather than eaten, and the woodsman arrives before Red Riding Hood takes a trip down the wolf's gullet.īut in Trina Schart Hyman's retelling we hear the traditional tale. This is a story about a little girl and the big wolf that gobbles her up.
