Learning From Picture Books - SUPER RED RIDING HOOD

This is another one of the picture books on the short list for this year’s Blue Spruce Award from the Ontario Library Association. I really enjoy fractured fairy tales and this one was a lot of fun!

Summary from the book jacket:

Ruby loves red things. She especially loves the red cloak her grandma made her. But unlike that other girl once upon a time, when Ruby puts on her red cloak, she becomes SUPER RED RIDING HOOD.

A delightful combination of something old and something new, Claudia Davila’s Super Red Riding Hood captures what it means to be an everyday superhero. 

Super Red Riding Hood was written and illustrated by Claudia Davila. It was published by Kids Can Press in 2014.

My Thoughts as a Writer:

I enjoyed the humorous voice in this story, for example, “This did not sound like an important mission to Ruby, but she could see that her mom meant business.” There are wonderful descriptive words used in the story, e.g., “the grumbly wolf skulked.”

My Thoughts as a Teacher:

The way Ruby used her powers through the story was fun. Any child could relate to her and I especially loved her as a role model as a strong girl. Fractured fairy tales are always fun because they can be read along with other versions for comparing and contrasting.

Themes: fairytales, sharing, good deeds, superheroes, bravery

Ages: 4 – 8

Grades: preschool – grade 3

Follow-Up Activities:

• What superpowers did Ruby use in the book? Draw a picture showing Ruby using another superpower.
• Brainstorm ideas for ways you could be a superhero and do good deeds like Ruby did.
• Draw a design for your own superhero cape. What would you call yourself as a superhero?
• Read another Red Riding Hood story. How are the two stories different? What is the same about them?

Learning from Picture Books - Ninja Red Riding Hood

I love mixed-up fairy tales and today’s feature is a fun one! For writers, it shows how effective it can be to put a new, creative twist on a classic story. As a teacher, I know this story with its comic-style illustrations will really hold student interest in a read aloud.

Here's the summary from Amazon:

Wolf just can’t catch a break! Ever since the three little pigs started teaching everyone Ninja skills, huffing and puffing just hasn’t been enough to scare up a good meal. 

His craving for meat sends Wolf to classes at the dojo, and soon he’s ready to try out his new moves. A little girl and her tiny granny should be easy targets—right?

Not if Little Red has anything to say about it! Kiya!

Ninja Red Riding Hood by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Dan Santat was first published in 2014 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York. 

Check out this fun trailer.

My thoughts as a writer:

This story incorporates the rhyme so seamlessly it’s a great one to study if you’re taking on the challenge of writing in rhyme. The concept of this story—re-envisioning the original with Ninja’s—is an impressive hook. It’s worth reading this story a few times to study how the author wove the concept through all aspects of the story. The story is also a great model for pacing and effective page turns.

My thoughts as a teacher:

This would be a good story for older primary students to read after reading and studying the classic version of Little Red Riding Hood. Students can look for similarities and differences. The colorful, comic-style illustrations are eye-catching, and offer an opportunity to explain speech bubbles. 

For classroom use, this story might require some discussion about whether fighting is the best way to solve problems, but it would be an engaging way to start. The ending might also require some discussion about respecting other people's choices and views (e.g., about vegetarianism).

Activities to go with this book: 

 - have students create their own fractured fairy tale in a comic style

- create posters or videos about good ways to solve problems

- read The Three Ninja Pigs by the same author-illustrator team and talk about the style of illustrations

If you're looking for more great picture books to read to your class or to investigate as a writer, author Susanna Leonard Hill has a wonderful list of Perfect Picture Books.

Learning from Picture Books: Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs

Before I get to my usual picture book analysis, I wanted to tell you about a great place to learn more about writing picture books. Over on her blog, author Pam Calvert is running Picture Book

University - a mini workshop for picture book writers. In her weekly post she covers different genres, storyboarding, and what terms like "character-driven" mean. I definitely recommend taking a look if you're interested in writing picture books!

And now, for this week's picture book:

Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs

written and illustrated by Mo Willems

published by Balzer + Bray, 2012

ages 3 - 7

From the Publisher:

Once upon a time, there were three hungry Dinosaurs: Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur . . . and a Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway.

One day—for no particular reason—they decided to tidy up their house, make the beds, and prepare pudding of varying temperatures. And then—for no particular reason—they decided to go . . . someplace else. They were definitely not setting a trap for some succulent, unsupervised little girl.

Definitely not!

This new take on a fairy-tale classic is so funny and so original—it could only come from the brilliant mind of Mo Willems.

 

My Thoughts as a Writer:

I love the way the humor in this story isn’t dumbed down for kids. The author cleverly uses the structure of the original story but adds a twist where the Dinosaurs are trying to lure Goldilocks inside and catch her. It reminds me how important the concept or idea behind the story is for a picture book.

The narrator talks to the reader with in such a way that child readers will predict the opposite or know that the opposite is going to happen – a great strategy for helping them to understand the plot.  In the illustrations, the expressions on the character’s faces add to the interpretation of the story, and there are lots of funny details for observant readers (e.g., signs).

My Thoughts as a Teacher:

This book is just so much fun it’d be a great read aloud to promote the love of reading. I’d use it after students had heard a couple of more traditional versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, so that they have a better foundation for the jokes and differences from the original. Follow up activities could include comparing the traditional version with this one, especially in grades 1 and 2.

Even though some of the humour might be difficult for younger kindergarten students, they would enjoy this book too and probably ask for a re-reading.

New Agent for MG and YA...Plus Writing This Week

In case you missed it, Tara Gonzales, a new agent at the Larsen Pomada Literary Agency, accepts submissions for picture books, middle grade and young adult works. For more details, check out Introducing Agent Tara Gonzalez over at Kris Asselin's blog.  

How was your writing this week? Sometimes when I’m working on my own writing, it's like I'm a magnet for new strategies and ideas that I don't really have time to try out. This week I ended up with lots of ideas and fuel for my own writing. Here are a few of the things that caught my interest:

1) James Scott Bell at the KillZone on How to Work on More Than One Book At A Time.

I'm always on the lookout for ways to get more writing finished. After reading this, now I’m determined not only to make sure I finish at least one scene of my work-in-progress every day (my latest middle grade novel) but also to spend a little time working on a different project (even if it’s only doodling in my notebook while I watch TV).

2) People Who Are Not Like You by author Patricia C. Wrede, on how to write characters that are not like yourself.

It’s much easier to assume a character has some of your own background and experiences. I realize I need to examine my characters even more closely to make sure the non-me parts are believable.

“The greater the differences between the writer and the character, the more aware the writer has to be of how the differences affect everything else in the character’s life.”  

3) Since my new not-yet-started project has some fairytale elements, I found the latest Writing Excuses podcast on Retellings and Adaptations so useful I listened to it twice. I especially liked the idea of playing around with a plot that already works to create a new story.

 

Did you come across anything that gave you a new perspective this week?