Red Riding Hood
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Little Red Riding Hood is one of those classic fairy tales that most children know, or certainly have heard references to the characters.
But did you know the story of Little Red Riding Hood is 1000 years old!?
The story's beginnings were in Europe with the French Court and the folklore of Germany–and over the years, Red Riding Hood’s tale has spread around the world and into different cultures. Her story has been rewritten, adapted, painted, danced, and sung.
Origins
Little Red Riding Hood is perhaps the fairytale that is the most deeply woven into the history of Western imagination, which is probably why it is still capable of inspiring continual and original rewritings and adaptations. Italy’s lively telling of this tale is epitomized in the visual re-writings of the classic version by the Brothers Grimm.
-Le Petit Chaperon Rouge was written by Perrault in France in the late 1600's.
-Huang Zhing writes "The Tiger Grandmother" in China also in the 1600's. Oral variations were common also in Japan and Korea.
-Brothers Grimm wrote the version of Little Red Riding Hood, Rotkäppchen, in Germany in the 1800's.
China
Lon Po Po by Ed Young
In China, children hear about a very scary and wily creature: Lon Po Po, the Granny Wolf.
In Ed Young’s Chinese retelling, three sisters are left home alone while their Mother goes to visit Grandmother on her birthday. Of course, she reminds them to keep the doors locked. The crafty wolf overhears the instructions, disguises himself as a Granny and tricks the girls into letting him into the house, dousing the lights once he is inside. Luckily, Shang, the eldest daughter, sees through his masquerade and the girls are able to escape his grasp and get rid of him forever.
The artwork is absolutely stunning; the watercolors and pastels are rich and dark, with the wolf hidden in the landscape in many of the scenes.
Germany
In the 19th century two separate German versions were retold to Jacob Grimm and his younger brother Wilhelm Grimm, known as the Brothers Grimm, the first by Jeanette Hassenpflug (1791–1860) and the second by Marie Hassenpflug (1788–1856). The brothers turned the first version to the main body of the story and the second into a sequel of it. The story as Rotkäppchen was included in the first edition of their collection Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales (1812) – KHM 26).
The earlier parts of the tale agree so closely with Perrault's variant that it is almost certainly the source of the tale. This version ends with the girl and her grandmother saved by a huntsman who was after the wolf's skin; this ending mirrors that in the tale "The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids", which appears to be the source. The second part featured the girl and her grandmother trapping and killing another wolf, this time anticipating his moves based on their experience with the previous one. The girl did not leave the path when the wolf spoke to her, her grandmother locked the door to keep it out, and when the wolf lurked, the grandmother had Little Red Riding Hood put a trough under the chimney and fill it with water that sausages had been cooked in; the smell lured the wolf down, and it drowned.
The Brothers further revised the story in later editions and it reached the above-mentioned final and better-known version in the 1857 edition of their work. It is notably tamer than the older stories which contained darker themes.
Italy
Once upon a time there was a sweet little girl. Everyone who saw her liked her, but most of all her grandmother, who did not know what to give the child next. Once she gave her a little cap made of red velvet. Because it suited her so well, and she wanted to wear it all the time, she came to be known as Little Red Riding Hood. One day her mother said to her: "Come Little Red Riding Hood. Here is a piece of cake and a bottle of wine. Take them to your grandmother. She is sick and weak, and they will do her well. Mind your manners and give her my greetings. Behave yourself on the way, and do not leave the path, or you might fall down and break the glass, and then there will be nothing for your sick grandmother."
Little Red Riding Hood promised to obey her mother. The grandmother lived out in the woods, a half hour from the village. When Little Red Riding Hood entered the woods a wolf came up to her. She did not know what a wicked animal he was, and was not afraid of him. "Good day to you, Little Red Riding Hood." - "Thank you, wolf." - "Where are you going so early, Little Red Riding Hood?" - "To grandmother's." - "And what are you carrying under your apron?" - "Grandmother is sick and weak, and I am taking her some cake and wine. We baked yesterday, and they should give her strength." - "Little Red Riding Hood, just where does your grandmother live?" - "Her house is a good quarter hour from here in the woods, under the three large oak trees. There's a hedge of hazel bushes there. You must know the place," said Little Red Riding Hood. The wolf convinces Red Riding Hood to leave the path and the story continues. The emphasis here is to not disobey your parents and their directions.
Cajun Louisiana
Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood by Mark Artell, illustrated by Jim Harris
Not a wolf, nor a dog this time, but a “big ole swamp ‘gator” from the Bayou names Claude. He wants to eat up Petite Rouge who is on her way to bring Gumbo to her Grandmere, with her trusty side-kick, the clever cat TeJean. The Louisiana swamp is the setting this time, and the retelling is filled with delicious dialect.
Africa
Pretty Salma: A Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africa by Nikii Daly
Instead of the Big Bad Wolf, here Pretty Salma encounters a Big Bad Dog on her way to market for her mother. While her mother has warned her not tot talk with strangers, Pretty Salma is still tricked by Mr. Dog into giving up her her beautiful clothes. The wiley Mr. Dog dresses up in them and races to Grandma’s house. With help from her storyteller Grandfather–dressed as Anansi–the family triumphs over the bad dog.
More
Many cultures have tales in which the main character wears a particular item of clothing or is invariably portrayed with a specific accessory. This character then embarks on an adventure-packed journey during which he or she must face a ferocious and sometimes deadly foe.
As highlighted over the centuries, “Little Red Riding Hood” has been illustrated by countless artists, and memorable works by illustrators such as Gustave Doré, Walter Crane and Arthur Rackham have continued to influence today’s artists. The classic fairytale has inspired many major contemporary illustrators, including Eric Battut, Klaus Ensikat, Nikolaus Heidelbach, Roberto Innocenti, Susanne Janssen, Binette Schroeder, Svend Otto Sorensen and Lisbeth Zwerger. In their works and in those of many other contemporary and past artists, there are some elements of the girl’s clothing which appear to be essential in defining the character’s visual appearance, quite relevant for the subsequent development of the plot.
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