Little Red, the Detective (Science Folktales #5) by Lois Wickstrom – Review by Angela Hayes

Little Red, the Detective: a science folktale by Lois Wickstrom
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3 Stars

Little Red, the Detective is the fifth book in the Science Folktales series by Lois Wickstrom. This is an illustrated children’s fantasy story- a reimagining of the classic fairytale, Little Red Riding Hood- where Maureen (aka Red) does a little investigating to find out what happened to her Grandma, with a little adventure along the way.
The story has some mystery, investigation, drama, lessons, science, a wily wolf, Red’s missing Grandma, cookies, flowers, knitting, fingerprinting, and animal control- this also has a bit of a ‘darker’ tone than some of Ms. Wickstrom’s other children’s books.
Again, this is one of her books where the internal illustrations are not of the same quality or style of the cover image- as the internal illustrations are a little more naïve, simplistic, bland, and somewhat boring…. which was a little bit of a letdown. They just don’t grab and hold your attention like the cover image does, so I feel like they let the story down. I think in a more whimsical style story those types of illustrations might work- but they missed the mark here, especially considering the ‘darker’ tone of the story too.
The Science Folktales Series contains (so far):
-Chicken Little (Book #1)
-Huff…Puff…Grind! The Three Little Pigs Get Smart (Book #2)
-Fee, Fi, Fo, Grow! The Real Magic of the Beans (Book #3)
-Goldilocks and the Six Simple Machines (Book #4)
-Little Red, the Detective (Book #5)
-Just One More Egg (Book #6)
-The Dwarves’ Dilemma (Book #7)
-Saving the Gingerbread House (Book #8)

As you can see, there’s lots to explore in this series- plenty of adventures to take, and things to learn along the way.

Happy reading…

Reviewed by @angelahayes

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