Little Red Riding Hood/Caperucita Roja

Kindergarten-Grade 2-A classic Grimm tale retold in Spanish and English. Charming yet scary illustrations add to the story of the little girl who meets a hungry wolf in the forest while on her way to take her grandmother a jar of honey and a pie (instead of wine and a piece of cake, as in the original). Another variation occurs when the hunter opens the wolf's body to save the grandmother and child. Once rescued, Little Red Riding Hood stuffs two big stones into the wolf's belly and sews it up. This weighs him down and he dies "on the spot." Estrada's colorful compositions, whether full page or spot, are balanced and attractive. The well-written narratives are likely to engage independent readers as well as read-aloud audiences.