Lover of Ebooks

Cloaked in Red. Vivian Vande Velde. 2010. October 2010. Marshall Cavendish. 128 pages.

From the author’s note: Everyone knows the story of Little Red Riding Hood, the girl with the unfortunate name and the inability to tell the difference between her grandmother and a member of a different species.
The question is: Why do we all know it?
If you look at “Little Red Riding Hood,” it’s a perfect example of the exact opposite of a good story.

I loved this one. I did. I just LOVED it. Vivian Vande Velde gives readers EIGHT different “Little Red Riding Hood” stories. Each supposed to be ‘better’ than the original. With more heart and substance. And she definitely succeeded in my opinion. I enjoyed reading these stories. One area in which Vivian Vande Velde excels is in creating great first lines.

The Red Cloak: Once upon a time, after fashion was discovered but before people had makeovers on TV, there was a young girl named Meg.

The Red Riding Hood Doll: Once upon a time, before department stores and designer labels, there was a young seamstress named Georgette.

Little Red Riding Hood’s Family: Once upon a time, long after people had found out that their families could sometimes be an embarrassment, but before there were advice columnists you could complain to, there was a girl named Roselle.

Granny and the Wolf: Once upon a time, before online dating services, there was a granny who had an unwelcome suitor.

Deems the Wood Gatherer: Once upon a time, before eyeglasses were invented, there was a nearsighted but good-hearted man named Deems.

Why Willy and His Brothers Won’t Ever Amount to Anything: Once upon a time, after books were invented but before TV and movies, there was a girl named Isolda Adeline Genevieve Trenthausen.

The Little Red Headache: Once upon a time, before superhighways and hotel chains, a wolf was journeying through the woods.

Little Red Riding Hood’s Little Red Riding Hood: Once upon a time, before malls, boutiques, or online clothing catalogs, there was a fairy godmother who was having trouble finding something to wear to the naming-day ceremony for her goddaughter.

The focus shifts in each story. Sometimes focusing on the human characters: the young girl, the grandmother, the woodcutter; other times focusing on the red riding hood (cloak) or the wolf. Many stories do have a twist–as you’d expect in a collection of fairy tale retellings.

© Becky Laney of Becky’s Book Reviews

If you’re reading this on a site (other than Becky’s Book Reviews or Becky’s feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Read more:
Cloaked in Red (MG)

The Storyteller’s Secrets. Tony Mitton. Illustrated by Peter Bailey. Random House. 128 pages.

Not so very far from here, nor so very long from now, there were two children. Their names were Toby and Tess and they were twins. They lived with their mother in a cozy cottage beside a village green. In the middle of the green stood a great old chestnut tree, and beneath the tree was a stout wooden bench where Toby and Tess sat when they hadn’t much to do or when there were things they wanted to talk about.

The Storyteller’s Secrets was originally published in the UK. The book has an old-fashioned, traditional feel to it. You can tell this even from the end papers. And the black-and-white illustrations. And the language. What is the book about? It’s about two children–a boy and a girl named Toby and Tess. One day after their mother has shooed them out of the house, they meet a stranger. A stranger named Teller. He loves to tell stories–and, of course, these stories all have morals, or should I say MORALS!–and he finds a welcoming audience in these two. The book has five of Teller’s stories: The Woodcutter’s Daughter, St. Brigid’s Cloak, The Seal Hunter, The Pedlar of Swaffham, and Tam Lin. The stories are told in verse, in rhyme. Though the framework of the story–Teller meeting the children, their friendly encounters–are told in prose.

There were a few moments where I felt Teller was a bit too condescending, a bit too didactic with the children. Is the book didactic because it’s trying to be old-fashioned? It could be. It didn’t bother me enough to stop me from reading the book.

My favorite was “Five Fragments” which sums up the book nicely. I won’t share all the poem. But here are the first two ‘fragments’.

a shrivelled old berry
that came from a wood
where a woodcutter’s cottage
once quietly stood…

a fragment of cloth
from the edge of a cloak
once worn by a woman –
such wisdom she spoke…

© Becky Laney of Becky’s Book Reviews

If you’re reading this on a site (other than Becky’s Book Reviews or Becky’s feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Read the original here:
The Storyteller’s Secrets