Little Red Cowboy Hat [Paperback]

Susan Lowell (Author), Randy Cecil (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

This whimsical take on Little Red Riding Hood brings new life to an old favorite.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This Southwestern version of Little Red Riding Hood features a tomboyish main character, a wolf as sleazy as any streetcorner lothario and a distinct self-defense theme. Lowell's (The Three Little Javelinas) outwardly tough Little Red wears a sheriff's badge and shoots rattlesnakes with her slingshot. However, she's intimidated by her aggressor, who steps from behind a cactus and blocks her path ("She didn't want to talk to him, but she'd been raised to be polite"). Later, as Little Red flees the wolf in Grandma's house, Grandma bursts into the bedroom with an ax (she has been chopping wood). Together the two frontierswomen chase the wolf away, and the tale ends on an up-to-date empowerment note: " 'Now, Red, have you learned your lesson?' asked Grandma. 'Yep. A girl's gotta stick up for herself,' said Little Red." Cecil (Baby's Breakfast) contributes flat, angular gouache illustrations of desert scenes. He fills thin black outlines with coloring-book precision, in shades of sunset orange, oversaturated yellow and green. His light-gray wolf towers over the thin and frightened Little Red, playing up the tension Lowell builds into the text before she defuses it with Grandma's 10-gallon talk: "That yellow-bellied, snake-blooded, skunk-eyed, rancid son of a parallelogram!... This time he picked the wrong grandma." Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Ages 5^-8. Little Red Riding Hood gets a Wild West twist in a funny version of the familiar tale. This sticks pretty close to the plot, but with a tall-tale twang to the telling and, naturally, a most favorable ending in which Grandma comes in and saves Little Red. Pure desert colors outlined in ink have a cartoon edge that is full of humor: Grandma, Little Red, and the cattle chasing the nightgown-bedecked wolf into the desert is particularly camp. The book's size and design make this a good choice for story hour; older kids will enjoy it, too. Ilene Cooper --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805064834
• ISBN-13: 978-0805064834
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #122,291 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is not your grandma's "Little Red Riding Hood!", January 26, 2002

By 

Cheri Isaacs (Joshua, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little Red Cowboy Hat (Paperback)

Far from the thoughtless, shrinking-violet waif-girl of older European tales, the red-headed, red-hatted Little Red of this fairy tale is a rootin' tootin' pre-feminist with a pistol for a granny. Our young cowgirl recognizes the Big Bad Wolf for the baddie he is but she was taught, in proper Texas tradition, to be polite to strangers....Granny and Little Red outsmart ol' Big Bad and hang out afterward to chew the fat about how girls can look after themselves. Hilariously illustrated and with authentic Wild West language, this tall tale will steal your heart!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Greatest Book, January 24, 2000

By 

Ms. Cecil's Second Grade Class (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little Red Cowboy Hat (Hardcover)

This book is WONDERFUL! I like it a lot because it made us laugh! It had good pictures and they made us feel happy. It is a good book. "This book reminded me of when I went to a farm," Yasmin said. We want other kids to read this book because they will like it too.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Contemporary Western "Red", January 31, 2006

By 

Fred Belinsky "Village Hat Shop" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Little Red Cowboy Hat (Paperback)

An American Southwest setting for the classic "Little Red Riding Hood" tale. Red's cowboy hat replaces Red's hood and the rest is literary history. Great illustrations of the Southwest and a right-on grandma from strong American pioneer stock: "That yellow-bellied, snake-blooded, skunk-eyed, rancid son of a parallelogram! . . . This time he picked the wrong grandma".