Little Red

The number of variants on Red Riding Hood must run into the hundreds if not thousands by now. In the earliest versions, the errant child, with or without her grandmother, is eaten alive, and that’s it. This stark simplicity has acted as a tempting refrain which generations of storytellers have embellished, at first with softenings of the tale to suit the shift of the folk tale’s assumed audience from adult to child, and later with variants to reflect an array of ideological or merely playful standpoints. This version is an example of the later inclination. David and Lynn Roberts have previously created versions of Cinderella set in the 1930s and Rapunzel set in the 1970s. For this Kate Greenaway shortlisted book, they have transposed the story to late 18th century and changed the gender of the title character. The pen and ink and watercolour illustrations combine apt garishness with flourishes of period detail and a subtle surrealism reminiscent of Anthony Browne. The narrative twist, involving a ginger beer propelled regurgitation, will amuse young readers and listeners, though I missed the sinister core that gives this tale its power to prowl down the centuries.