Customer Reviews

Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've had to read this damn thing every night since I got it about a month ago. My 3 1/2 year old boy adores it. Fortunately, it's fun to read aloud when you get the hang of it, and the illustrations are absolutely top-notch, so detailed and dynamic and just as funny every time I see them.
The dialect represented here is not as heavy and opaque as Cajun Night Before Christmas (which is where my son's strange passion for these odd Cajun stories begun), and the rhyme scheme does a tremendous amount to give clues as to how it's meant to be read. After a few readings it comes surprisingly naturally and it gets easier to do different voices for each character, which is something the kids really seem to respond to.
As for the story itself, I love that the problem is solved in a truly Cajun way -- with spicy food -- and lacks the various gruesome calamities that befall each character in most other versions. (Don't get me wrong, I love those ghastly old Grimm tales as much as the next guy, but they get tough to explain to the kiddies after a while.)
I'll probably keep picking up the Sheila Hebert Collins books but I really wish they were more like this one.

This book is a Cajun version of the classic Little Red Riding Hood story. In this version, Red Ridding Hood is a clever little duck and the wolf has been replaced with a sly looking alligator named Claude. The story is sassy and fun and the dialog is written phonetically so you actually start sounding like a Cajun. But what is truly exceptional about this book are the illustrations. They are expressive and witty and the detail is amazing. Every time I read the book, I find something new hidden in the picture (a cup propping up a window, a duck faced Mona Lisa picture, bunny slippers on the floor, etc). It also became a game for my son to find the mouse hidden somewhere in (almost) every picture. Even if you don't have kids, this book is worth having just as a conversation piece.

This book is truly beloved in our household. It's everybody's favorite. If I'm reading it to my kindergartner, my middle-schooler will drift into the room to sit on the bed and listen, even though she's heard it a hundred times. It's a hilarious, affectionate re-telling of the fairy tale, and it's as southern as the Spanish moss and shrimp etouffee, gumbo and gator-filled swamps that sprawl across its pages. Petite Rouge (a duck) turns out to be quite a bit feistier than her traditional fairy-tale counterpart. She stands up to Claude (a gator) and manages to outwit him in a thoroughly southern denouement. The illustrations are warm and expressive and every bit as funny and delightful as the text. A book like this is a gift; enjoy it!

This is the most wonderful of books! You can't read the book outloud without magically developing a Louisiana accent, for the phonetic system devised by the author is so easy to use. I love to make ole Claude, the alligator, have a rough, raspy voice. My four-year-old son absolutely loves this book, and his pre-school teacher read it to the whole class. It's fun, it's funny, it gives you a taste of Cajun culture and of the French language, and the illustrations are delightful! I've read it to my adult friends as well-- everyone loves it!

As a classroom teacher, I am always looking for new, entertaining books for my class. This book is well-written in the Cajun dialect and exposes children to the Cajun culture while entertaining them with a different version of Little Red Riding Hood. It is best read aloud, and is just as fun for the adult to read as for the child. I would (and have) recommended this book for anyone looking for a new twist to the traditional Little Red Riding Hood story.

My kids pick out four stories before bed at night and this one seems to make it into the reading pile every time. The Cajun accent looks tricky at first glance, but like all the other reviewers noted it really does roll off your tongue. We live in Ireland and all the kids here think that the tone of the book is absolutely hilarious...the fabulous illustrations fill in any Cajun-comprehension gaps!

Petite Rouge is a side-splitting, knee-slapping version of Little Red Riding Hood with a Cajun flare. As a 1st grade teacher I am always looking for great books to read aloud to my class and this is the best one I have come across in a long time. Petite Rouge just begs to be read aloud. Don't be intimidated by the way the Cajun dialect is written, the words end up rolling off your tongue. You will sound like you were born in the Bayou when you read this one.

We were totally satified with Petite Rouge Riding Hood! Very fun book. My son loves hearing the cajun accent this book is written with.

My sister sent this book to me for my 42nd birthday in preparation for future grandchildren. She and I have agreed to now start collecting cajun children's (cheer-in) books for one another for birthdays and Christmas' to come so our future grandchildren have a complete "Little Cajun Library" in our homes. Petite Rouge is a fantastic children's tale, sure to delight children from ages 2 thru 8, as well as the reader of the story. The accent used in this book is right on mark and the illustrations are eye catching, fanciful and precious. I've since ordered the three little cajun pigs for my sister and cannot wait to hear her review on that one. For women from Louisiana, collecting these books for one another is a priceless way to preserve our culture a little piece at a time. It will provoke our children to ask questions about how things were, when and where we grew up, which is the first step in the preservation of a culture by sparking interest in children at a young age. Dee Dee Sorvaag

Back in de swamp
where dat Spanish moss grow,
I heard me a story
from long time ago.

In a little ol' house
dat been built outta wood,
live a girl people call
Petite Rouge Riding Hood.

One day, when her grand-me`re
come down wit' de flu,
Petite Rouge mama tol' her
what she got to do.

"Take her dis gumbo
an" t'ree or two sweater,
An' some uh dis boudin
gone make her feel better."

And so starts one of the best versions of the timeless tale of Little Red Ridding Hood I have read in quite some time now. Of the many, many, many renditions of this very old folk tale I think I like this one the best...or very near it. This of course is the story told from the Cajun point of view and main characters have been replaced by geese (Ridding Hood and her family) and "dat ol' Claude de gator" instead of the Big bad Wolf.

As Petite Rouge makes her way through the swamp with her cat in a little pirogue, they encounter the rascally gator and the story takes off.

The entire work is set to rhyme and is extremely heavy on the Cajun dialect. having traveled and ate my way through that part of the country on many, many occasions and having been blessed with quite a number of Cajun friends over the years, I loved ever word and picture in this wonderful little book. The author not only has the story itself well retold, but he has nailed the Cajun attitude perfectly. If the dialect does not please you and the little ones, and the humor of the situations Petite Rouge finds herself in and how she handles them dose not tickle your funny bone, then the fantastic drawings and paintings of illustrator Jim Harris (one of my favorite) certainly will.

Now fear not. If you do not know what a Pirogue or Boudin or Etoufee` is, the author has been kind and considerate enough to supply a very good glossary to help you out in the reading of this work.

I actually sort of hate to call this a children's book as I have found that adults appreciate it as much as the little ones do...in many ways, more so. It is the kind of work that is a great one on one read and due to its nature will not drive the adult reader crazy after reading it over and over again to the child...something I can assure you will happen.

Wish I could give this one a higher rating...it is one of the best.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks