I love books that have a fresh take on fairy tales. We all know the Disney-fied tales. Many have even heard the classical versions of the stories. But getting a new look at the tales that get even a modern spin keep these stories fresh and fun to read.
It's Not Little Red Riding Hood
written by Josh Funk
illustrated by Edwardian Taylor
published by Two Lions
Josh Funk has given us several books in the "It's Not a Fairy Tale" series and each one is a little funnier, a little more tongue-in-cheek, than the one before. When you read a book from this series, you're sure to get laughs from your readers.
His new book, It's Not Little Red Riding Hood has us meeting Red... who may or may not have a red cloak.... Red is sassy, gets to the point, and while she is often agreeable, she may have a few questions for our narrator. As in the other books in the series, we have a narrator who is doing their best to tell the story, but between talking to the character and telling the story, may be getting a little frustrated. Which of course, makes us laugh. The narrator tries to tell the more original version of the story, but Red and her personality changes things up a bit. There is a villain, and the villain does go to Grandmother's house. There is the big ears, big eyes, big teeth part. But everything in between that gets some enhancing to the original tale!
As I was reading, I couldn't help but think of the many ways you can use this in the classroom.
- Working on punctuation? This book is full of talk bubbles and changes in font to help the reader know who is doing the talking, but what if you took them out? Type up a couple of pages without using punctuation but make sure each person who is talking is in its own separate line. Have students add quotation marks, punctuation, and you can even have them use different words for "said" at the end of the quotations.
- This book begs to be read aloud which makes it perfect for a reader's theater version. This always encourages readers to practice their expression and fluency.
- 2nd and 3rd grade ELA standards have students looking at the central message of a story, especially with folk tales and fables. This story lends itself well to that. Find other versions of this story and compare central messages.
- This version has a narrator that is trying to tell the story and talks to the characters. How does this change the story from other versions? What does it add to this version? What is the importance of the narrator? Whose point of view does the reader know in this story?
- This book speaks to the idea of story - how do you decide how the story goes? Who gets to decide how the story is going to go? How is your story going to go? Explore the idea of story and writing with students with those questions.
Such a perfect book to use in your classroom and library!
More about author, Josh Funk, and illustrator, Edwardian Taylor:
Like the characters in his books, Josh Funk doesn't like being told how stories should go—so he writes his own. He is the author of many popular picture books, including the popular Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series, illustrated by Brendan Kearney, and the It’s Not a Fairytale books, illustrated by Edwardian Taylor. He lives in New England with his family. Learn more about him at www.joshfunkbooks.com Twitter @joshfunkbooks Instagram: @joshfunkbooks Edwardian Taylor is the illustrator of multiple children’s books, including Race!, written by Sue Fliess; the Toy Academy chapter books, written by Brian Lynch; and the It’s Not a Fairytale books, written by Josh Funk. He lives in Texas with his partner and their four dogs. Learn more about him at www.edwardiantaylor.com. |
Twitter: @edwardiantaylor
Instagram: edwardiantaylor
Tumblr: Edwardian Taylor
Thank you to Barbara at Blue Slip Media for the opportunity to share this story!
Two Lions is offering all three books in the It’s Not a Fairytale series--It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk, It’s Not Hansel and Gretel, and It’s Not Little Red Riding Hood to one lucky winner (U.S. addresses). Giveaway open until Friday, Nov. 6th.
Thanks for the review. I adore readers theater. There are so many skills in participating that make meeting standards easy. And, I have so enjoyed watching Josh's success as a story teller. Thanks for the tip on Edwardian Taylor. I just followed on twitter.
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