Young, E. (1989). Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story form China. Philomel.
Caldecott Medal Winner – 1990
This book entitled Lon Po Po, is written and illustrated by Ed Young, and is a version of Little Red Riding Hood from the country of China. When I read this book with my second graders, I did so for a few reasons, besides that I like to try my books that are selected for my blog on them to see if they pass the “kid test.” I shared it during our genre study of fairy tales, which I had started out the unit by reviewing and sharing some of the classic, more European versions that are more famously known by the children, and shared this version of Red Riding Hood to make a Venn of comparisons of similarities and differences to the more familiar version known in America. The same can be done with Cinderella stories from around the world, on a much grander scale because there is a large pool of Cinderella type stories from which to drawn upon.
In this Chinese version, Young tells a story which is similar to the European version’s portion of when Little Red Riding Hood is actually interacting with the “grandmother” disguised as the wolf. This Chinese version is mostly just of that comparative section. Three children are left at home by their mother, who travels to go see their Po Po, or grandmother, on her birthday for an overnight stay. Although they are instructed to keep the door latched, the children, Shang, Tao, and Paotze, are initially tricked to open it up for the wolf, who is impostering their grandmother as if she had come there and missed the mother on her travels because she must have traveled another route. Similarities can be drawn in the portion of Lon Po Po to the European version when the children comment on unusual observations about their “grandmother” as if something is not quite right, but the wolf makes excuses to try to string them along. Shang, the wisest being the oldest, sees a glimpse of the wolf in the darkened room and turns the tables on the wolf’s trickery. Shang has Tao and Paotze climb up a tree with her to get ginko nuts which they have been persuading the wolf to crave. In the end, they manage to get down after the wolf retrieves a basket on a rope and falls down to death on the ground instead of being hoisted all the way up by the children. They nonchalantely go back to the house and tell their no so alarmed mother about it the next day, which doesn’t quite give me the satisfying ending that I was seeking, but it is still a great story to use for comparative purposes and as part of a large expose experience for children to interact with folk tales and fiction from around the globe.
Caldecott Medal Winner – 1990
This book entitled Lon Po Po, is written and illustrated by Ed Young, and is a version of Little Red Riding Hood from the country of China. When I read this book with my second graders, I did so for a few reasons, besides that I like to try my books that are selected for my blog on them to see if they pass the “kid test.” I shared it during our genre study of fairy tales, which I had started out the unit by reviewing and sharing some of the classic, more European versions that are more famously known by the children, and shared this version of Red Riding Hood to make a Venn of comparisons of similarities and differences to the more familiar version known in America. The same can be done with Cinderella stories from around the world, on a much grander scale because there is a large pool of Cinderella type stories from which to drawn upon.
In this Chinese version, Young tells a story which is similar to the European version’s portion of when Little Red Riding Hood is actually interacting with the “grandmother” disguised as the wolf. This Chinese version is mostly just of that comparative section. Three children are left at home by their mother, who travels to go see their Po Po, or grandmother, on her birthday for an overnight stay. Although they are instructed to keep the door latched, the children, Shang, Tao, and Paotze, are initially tricked to open it up for the wolf, who is impostering their grandmother as if she had come there and missed the mother on her travels because she must have traveled another route. Similarities can be drawn in the portion of Lon Po Po to the European version when the children comment on unusual observations about their “grandmother” as if something is not quite right, but the wolf makes excuses to try to string them along. Shang, the wisest being the oldest, sees a glimpse of the wolf in the darkened room and turns the tables on the wolf’s trickery. Shang has Tao and Paotze climb up a tree with her to get ginko nuts which they have been persuading the wolf to crave. In the end, they manage to get down after the wolf retrieves a basket on a rope and falls down to death on the ground instead of being hoisted all the way up by the children. They nonchalantely go back to the house and tell their no so alarmed mother about it the next day, which doesn’t quite give me the satisfying ending that I was seeking, but it is still a great story to use for comparative purposes and as part of a large expose experience for children to interact with folk tales and fiction from around the globe.
No comments:
Post a Comment