Ninja Red Riding Hood

Title: Ninja Red Riding Hood
Author: Corey Rosen Schwartz
Illustrator: Dan Santat
Genre: Fantasy
Awards: N/A
Grade Level: PK - 3 

A wolf is unable to get food since all of his prey have learned how to defend themselves. He joins a dojo in hopes of gaining some skills so he can eat. He targets Red Riding Hood and disguises as her grandma, but soon finds out that she also has ninja skills. They fight and he is ultimately defeated by Red. Wolf declares that he will give up red meat and learn yoga to release his stress. This is a fractured fairy tale of "Little Red Riding Hood" with lots of action and twist at the end. Students can compare and contrast the elements that make it a "Red Riding Hood" story. The text has great rhythm and rhymes and the illustrations are sometimes in a comic strip format. It is a fun book I would use in my classroom because students can develop their phonological awareness and enjoy the action that is not seen in other versions of the tale. Students can learn that villains can change for the better and compassion should be shown to others despite past conflicts. 

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