Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood by Liesl Shurtliff

from goodreads

4 stars

Summer!!! The sun is out, the beach is calling my name and I have finally had the frozen lemonade I have been craving. Summer and its hot weather has finally arrived.

I have signed up the kids for the library reading club. The girls are actually excited and are really thinking about what kinds of books they want to get from the library. It always makes my heart happy when they are excited about going to the library and not grumpy or making it feel like a chore.

Yesterday we went to one of the kick off parties our library is holding to celebrate the summer reading club. Being there helped remind me that no matter where you go, or what branch of your library you go to (we went to a party that was held at a different branch than our regular one) there are always dedicated staff ready to help you. The staff created a warm environment that allowed the kids to explore, want to share what they made and discovered, have fun, and get excited about reading. It was such a nice morning and a lot of that had to do with the great staff. Here's to a magical summer of reading.

Synopsis

Red's granny is sick and Red goes on a quest to find a cure for her granny. A cure that Red hopes will make her granny live forever.

My Thoughts

This was great! This is a fun story that still teaches you, or at least allows you to think about, life, death, the ability to let go, accepting change and being happy and grateful for what you have.

One of the most prevalent, and I think best, themes is looking at what scares us and how these fears can limit us or hold us back. We need to work through these fears and be willing to try again. Yes, there may be risks involved, but, there are always risks in whatever you do so you might as well keep trying.

I love how Shurtliff blends different stories together. Yes, it deals with Red Riding Hood, but it also has elements of one of my favourite stories Snow White and Rose Red. There were also other fairy tales that were thrown into the mix such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Beauty and the Beast. All these different tales flow together seamlessly and helps create this fantastical world that makes sense and you think it is real.

I loved the dwarfs. Now I know why they are always mining for gems. Ingenious!

This is a fun fairy tale retelling that you definitely have to add to your summer reading list. This would be good for ages 9 and up.