Red Ridin' in the Hood: and Other Cuentos (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Renato Alarcao (Illustrator)
Key Phrases: Old Vaca, Dinero Martinez, Forest Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-5–These retellings of classic European folktales with a modern Latino twist are only half-realized, and fall sadly flat. >From "Blanca Nieves and the Seven Vaqueritos" to "Juan and the Pinto Bean Stalk" to "Belleza y La Bestia," readers will find leaden prose, obvious and didactically stated morals, and narratives that have no tension, but move like a report of a plot that all readers know. The "cultural twist" affects the names, the food, and the setting. The characters say "señor" and "adios," but there is nothing "Latino" about the retellings–and none of the import or flavor of the originals. Two exceptions are "The Three Chicharrones," which poses the wolf as land-grabbing developer Dinero Martínez, and "The Sleeping Beauty," in which the princess is a snob and the witch is a misunderstood young lady who wins handsome Pepe's heart. Yet though these exhibit an inventiveness with the story, their language is similarly drab. Alarcão's comical and fanciful illustrations are wasted here. If one must have a Latino version of one of these folktales (and what exactly is the point? It's not as if the various Latino cultures have no rich oral traditions of their own), try Bobbi Salinas's The Three Pigs: Nacho, Tito, and Miguel (Piñata, 1998), which has a storyteller's sensibility.–Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 3-5. The fractured fairy tale gets cool Latino flavor in this lively collection of 11 fresh retellings, with witty reversals of class and gender roles and powerful, full-page pictures that set the drama in venues ranging from the desert and the barrio to a skyscraper. The old scary demons, such as the witch in the forest, are in evidence, but there's also a Sleeping Beauty story told about a hurt, angry orphan witch who gets revenge for not being invited to a spoiled, rich girl's quinceacera. In "Emperador's New Clothes," Emperador runs the high-school scene. His perfectly gelled, spiky hair makes him look as if he just popped out of a teen magazine. Then Veronica tricks him into appearing at the assembly in his underpants. Unfortunately, some messages are much too heavily spelled out: Beauty teaches Beast not only about the revolution but also about the meaning of fear and true ugliness; Jack finds his dream not in the sky but in hard work. But the lively, fast-paced retellings, the Spanish idiom (there's a glossary at the back), and the dynamic, full-page pictures, several per story, make this great for storytelling collections. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (April 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374362416
• ISBN-13: 978-0374362416
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #115,490 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #93 in

  Books > Children's Books > Literature > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Multicultural

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great collection of tales through Latino eyes, April 20, 2006

By	Sarah Stumpf (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This charming and socially relevant collection of tales points out the universality of the human experience and the many common threads running through folklore by taking traditional Latino tales and international fairy and folk tales (most noticeably European fairy tales) and telling them through entirely Latino/a eyes. In this volume Hansel and Gretel become Jamie and Gabriella and the setting varies from the barrio to the desert to ancient Tenochtitl?n. In every tale, specific elements of Latino culture such as food, custom, religion, and language are deftly woven in and never make the tales feel co-opted.

These stories tell about fallible parents, but also the importance of family. They can be very scary, such as when the "wolf" with his gold teeth stalks Rosa in his low rider, but also humorous, when Rosa and her grandmother both remark on the stinky goat cheese. These tellings are able to make clear that real life if often violent, unfair, and unpredictable, but they also tell of characters who are able to be proud, smart, strong, fallible, and lucky enough to make it through adversity.

These tales are also unique because they challenge perceptions of gender. In "Emperador's New Clothes" it is a girl who tricks the vain Emperador. In "Blanca Nieves y the seven vaqueritos" (a retelling of Snow White) Blanca Nieves is useless at housework but helpful around the ranch. In "The Sleeping Beauty" the witch is an angsty goth teen who is somewhat justifiably angry at being excluded from a spoiled rich girl's quinceacera.

The handsome but unexceptional black and white charcoal drawings by Renato Alarcao accentuate each story, but are careful not to fully illustrate it. The illustrations usually give a picture of a particular emotional moment, giving the imagination of the reader an opportunity to fill in the gaps. This book gets 4 stars because the art is nothing special.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eleven such classics receive Latino cultural insights and will delight middle-grade Latino readers, February 12, 2006

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

For a contemporary, detailed take on the Red Riding Hood woods saga, choose the urban-oriented Red Ridin' In The Hood And Other Cuentos, pairing realistic and engaging drawings by Renato Alarcao with the story of a barrio Red who decides to brave a dangerous Forest Street to reach her sick grandmother. Eleven such classics receive Latino cultural insights and will delight middle-grade Latino readers.