Little Red, the Detective (Science Folktales) by Lois Wickstrom – Review by Dr. Anya Schultz

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

Little Red, The Detective is a retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood” but with a detective twist. A girl named Maureen who everyone calls red because of her red sweater she loves to wear (even though her hair is red) is asked to go see her Grandma. Her Grandma is knitting her a new sweater and needs to measure her. Grandma asks her to grab a special flower for tea on her way over. So as Red is walking in the woods she is looking for this flower; she uses her detective book to look at the picture to compare. While walking she can’t seem to find the flower, but all of a sudden a friendly wolf approaches with a bunch of flowers claiming they are the right ones. Red doesn’t believe him, but it gives him time to get to Grandma’s to eat her before Red gets there. She finally finds the right flower and heads to Grandma’s. When she gets there she realizes something is wrong but uses her detective skills to realize that the wolf is there and not Grandma. Red makes a special tea that makes him spit Grandma out. Then they drink tea and take Red’s measurements for her new sweater. I don’t really know what to say about the book. This author produces cute kid’s stories, but I also find them odd. The story always tends to move fast and skip detail so it always just seems rushed to me. Then the ending just seems anti-climatic and strange.

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