Lon Po Po is a Chinese version of Little Red Riding Hood. Shang, Tao and Paotze’s stay at home while their mother visits their Po Po (grandmother). She warns them to not let anyone in the house. As soon as she leaves the big bad wolf appears, pretending to be Po Po. Despite their mother’s warnings the girl let “Po Po” into the house and soon find themselves in bed with a wolf. They escape danger through the cleverness of Shang, who is the eldest.
Unlike the Grimm story, there are three heroines, instead of one, the mother goes off to visit grandmother, and the girls rescue themselves rather than waiting for a wood -cutter. And, as one of my students pointed out – in this version the wolf does not eat grandma.
Ed Young’s beautifully dramatic illustrations won him the Caldecott award. Readers who enjoy fairytales will enjoy this different spin on a old favorite.
Recommended for 2nd Grade and up.
2 comments:
I bought this book for my kids when they were preschool age and they didn't like it. Maybe they were too young for it?!
Over the years I've used it with 2nd and 3rd grades. Preschool might be a little young because it is darker than the traditional version. How old are they now?
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