Little Red Riding Hood

American illustrator Trina Schart Hyman is author and illustrator of a beautiful and unique re-telling of Little Red Riding Hood. The book was published in 1983 (by Holiday House) and was a Caldecott Medal nominee for best illustrated children’s book. Hyman has won awards for her illustrated version of Saint George and the Dragon (1984) as well as the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for King Stork (1973). She is a critically acclaimed illustrator who specializes in the re-telling of popular fables from writers such as the Brothers Grimm and Edmund Spenser. Her version of Little Red Riding Hood features ornate, full-color ink drawings befitting a traditional fairy tale.

The story begins with an image of Little Red reading a book on a porch (subtly suggesting a story-within-story). Elisabeth lives with her mother on the edge of the village. The protagonist is introduced as Elisabeth, beloved by her grandmother, who gives her a red velvet cloak that she loves for her birthday. From that point forward, Elisabeth wears only her red cloak, and is thenceforward called “Little Red.”

Little Red is tasked to take fresh bread, sweet butter, and a bottle of wine to her grandmother, who is sick in bed. Little Red’s mother gives her specific instructions not to run, daydream, stay too long, and to use good manners in her grandmother’s presence.  The grandmother lives in a cottage about half-an-hour’s walk, but Little Red, well acquainted with the journey, is not afraid to go by herself. Hyman’s illustration features an attractive, statuesque woman preparing a basket and looking pedantically at her very small daughter.



As Little Red walks farther into the woods, she meets a “nice, sly, hungry old wolf,” (who towers over Little Red, with her cape over her head). The illustrated wolf is expressive and wizened. He asks Little Red where she is going, and she, in an explanation detailed and forthcoming as befits a child of her age, tells him that she is going to visit her sick grandmother. At this point, the illustrated wolf sits up on his hind legs and puts his hands on her shoulders. In a monologue to himself, the wolf enthusiastically admits his intentions to eat both Little Red and her grandmother. He plans to trick Little Red, but does not explain how. He resumes walking with her, while making pleasant conversation.

Hyman’s beautiful illustrations feature the butterflies, sunlight, and various woodland creatures that the text describes. As Little Red sees the flowers (in addition to a black cat which only the reader might mark as an ominous portent), she resolves to stop and pick a few, determined that she has plenty of time for the journey before her. This foray leaves the wolf an opening to precede Little Red’s arrival at her grandmother’s house, with a view to devouring her.

When the wolf arrives at the cottage, the illustration shows an elderly woman sitting up in her bed, the wolf up on his hind legs, preparing to open the latch on the door. The wolf claims to be Little Red, and she invites her presumed grandaughter to let herself in. It is explained (but not illustrated) that the wolf devours the grandmother.



The following scene shows Little Red resuming her path to her grandmother’s, laden with an armful of flowers. When she arrives, a particularly fearsome illustration shows the wolf sitting in the bed wherein the grandmother was previously depicted (and the same black cat on a shelf among flowerpots). Little Red (who feels an inexplicable sense of trepidation that she has not felt during previous visits), peers into this canopied bed, and the text reveals a conversation featuring Little Red’s exclamation at her odd-looking grandmother’s big ears, shiny eyes, strange hands, and sharp teeth. The wolf famously evades her questions until he suddenly reveals his identity and jumps up to eat Little Red. The wolf goes back to sleep in the grandmother’s bed after his repast.

It happens that a hunter is passing along the grandmother’s cottage, and hears loud snoring which he thinks is unusual coming from the house that he knows belongs to an old lady. He enters in order to check on her, and immediately recognizes the wolf in disguise. The astute hunter sees the distended stomach of the wolf and suspects what has happened. He admits to have been hunting this wolf for years, and the illustration shows him aiming to shoot the wolf (with the black cat looking on); however, the hunter pauses upon thinking that there might be a hope of saving them. The text explains that the hunter kills the wolf and opens his stomach to release Little Red and her grandmother, alive but frightened. The two thank him sincerely and share the bread, butter, and wine (tea for Little Red) from the gift basket. Next, they clean up the house and wash the linens that have been soiled by the wolf. Several illustrations show the hunter taking his leave with the wolf’s pelt on his back and the grandmother and Little Red cheerfully sharing a meal and then hanging laundry against the backdrop of a verdant countryside. The final illustration shows Little Red departing from the forest with the buildings of the village on the skyline. She resolves never to stray from the path again, but is glad that she at least obeyed her mother’s orders to mind her manners.

The story of Little Red Riding Hood was Trina Schart Hyman’s personal favorite childhood story, and the author wore a red cape as a child in imitation of the famous protagonist. Hyman, who passed away in 2004, is remembered for this and other creative retellings of popular tales.