Little Critter(r) Little Red Riding Hood: A Lift-The-Flap Book

The hardback version with the flaps is a favorite

Folklore and fairy tales can be a great springboard for the imagination and Mercer Mayer's preschool version of Little Red Riding Hood is one such delightful romp. This story re-told by Mercer Mayer in an earlier version for the Little Critter series has been refined for preschoolers. The sturdy, lift-the-flap board book is appropriate for its preschool market, yet the artwork and storytelling will keep amused the hapless adult who is asked to read it over and over again The slightly unisex Little Critter's unkempt, google-eyed appearance and one-tooth smile connects immediately with preschoolers. The illustrations are pen-and-ink rendered with bright, pleasant colors. Unlike many other books in the Little Critter series, the backgrounds in Little Red Riding Hood are not vignettes but fully detailed. Children and their caregivers will delight in finding bits of humor and other treasures in the drawings through repeated readings. Mayer's gift for affable artwork extends into the storytelling. With Critter's light spirit, readers should not expect the original story's violent end. It is through the artwork that Mayer makes it easy to side-step the discomfort of straying a bit from the original tale or, worse yet, making light of the violence. Grandma is not consumed, she hides in a closet. The woodcutter does not cut open the Big Bad Wolf, the comical-looking beast simply runs away never to be seen again. Readers will find the Mouse, one of Critter's endearing friends, as usual, on every page. Mouse does his part to find the humor in the moment and it is his comments that are underneath the flap on every page. At times, Mouse helps shed light on the unfolding drama, skillfully taking even more of the scare out of the story. "Here comes trouble" and "Look in here" are a few of Mouse's straight lines, but with Mayer's expressive drawing, particularly of Mouse's eyes, you can not help but be let in on the joke and laugh. If Little Critter is Mayer's self-portrait, Mouse is surely the omnipresent Greek chorus; a voice that speaks to the emerging spirit of preschoolers as well as to their caregivers who enjoy reconnecting with their own.