Red by Jed Alexander

Cameron Kids, 2018. ISBN: 9781944903114.
(Age: 3+) Highly recommended. Themes: Fairy tale, Wordless. A wordless take on the classic tale, Little Red Riding Hood, in which the Big Bad Wolf and other woodland creatures are planning something surprising sees Red scampering through the woodland, meeting the wolf and other creatures along the way. Children will tell her to be careful of the wolf, but a bigger surprise is about to happen. I love the wolf's body seen through the trees, and the red of the girl's cape contrasting with the black and white background, the small creatures welcoming her to the forest, readers needing to look closely at each page to spot them all. The image of an elderly comatose Grandma is turned around as the girl reaches Grandma's house and finds all the animals there waiting for her. The black, white and red illustrations beg the audience to add their own words. They will all know the original story but these illustrations will make them use their imaginations to build a new tale, one in which everything ends happily, wolf included, rather than his stomach filled with stones and drowned.
Fran Knight