Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked Ten Moral Tales from the Forest

Every woman who cares about how society sees her, or her mother, or her daughter, should read this book to find out how myths and fictions about women get created. This book does a wonderful job of investigating the history and symbolism behind one of the most popular stories of all time We should pay attention to the stories we tell, lest we get trapped by them. I loved this book, everyone with a daughter should read it.

As a layman to the fairy tale culture, I found Catherine Orenstein's book fascinating. She brings the eqique tale, which we all know in detail, to the forefront explaining its cultural and historical context. For instance, the initial yarn was told during Louie IV's courtyard as a warning for young girls to protect their virginity. Its usefulness continues today and is now seen promoting products around the world. Catherine Orenstein makes a powerful case for Red, and other fairy tales, impact on society.

This book puts a unique spin on a common children's fairy tale that many of us grew up with. As she states in the book this story starts out rather baudy and morphs as our morality changes through time. Little Red Riding Hood becomes younger and younger through the years with first starting out as a young woman undressing and crawling into bed with the wolf, until now where the woman singlehandedly defeats the wolf herself.I like this book because she brings in historical context of this tale. It is amazing how many tales may have originated from the French Court during its heyday. Cinderella, which also started out much differently, Rapunzell, are all noted in this book. I hope the author continues writing about other tales as she did this one. Her style makes it hard to put this one down.

"Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked" will surprise and delight you with its thorough research and insights into the most popular tale of all time. With wit and verve, Ms. Orenstein shows how a grown-up story became a fairy tale for children, then morphed back into versions intended for adults --sometimes the XXX kind of adult. My favorite anecdote is of the school that banned "Little Red Riding Hood" not because of the cross-dressing, violence and allusions to sex --but because Red had a bottle of wine in her picnic basket.

Catherine Orenstein has a real hit here. A fast, engaging, "can't put it down" read, "Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked" is smart and funny and sexy and engaging all the way along. Her research is deep, the analysis powerful, and she turns a nice phrase too! ("Like a prism that refracts light and delivers the spectrum of the rainbow, 'Little Red Riding Hood' splits and reveals the various elements of human identity"). She uses the story as a window into so many aspects of culture, society and the human psyche. I Loved it!