The Cat, the Dog, Little Red, the Exploding Eggs, the Wolf, and Grandma

by Diane Fox, Christyan Fox (Illustrator)

Overview

A comical twist on "Little Red Riding Hood" told by Cat and Dog!

Cat starts reading "Little Red Riding Hood" and explains, "It's a story about a little girl who always wears a red cape with a hood."Dog says, "COOL! I love stories about superheroes. What's her special power?"Cat says, "She doesn't have any special powers. It's not that kind of a story."And then the fun ensues!The zany, fun back-and-forth of Dog and Cat celebrates the joy of reading -- and questioning. Young children will cheer Dog's persistent questions as well as Cat's dedication to keep telling the story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545745659
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	08/26/2014
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Diane and Christyan Fox have created numerous children's books. They studied graphic design together at Middlesex University and pursued individual careers before discovering how well they worked together. They live just outside London and have three children. For more information, go to www.christyanfox.co.uk.

Editorial Reviews

06/02/2014
In this story-about-a-story, the husband-and-wife Foxes (Tyson the Terrible) draw a bossy, teacher-ish cat and an irrepressible pup arguing their way through a reading of Little Red Riding Hood. “Cool! I love stories about superheroes,” the pup says, imagining that Little Red Riding Hood’s cape is part of a Superman-style outfit. “What’s her special power?” “She doesn’t have any special powers,” says the cat primly. “It’s not that kind of a story.” But the dog is undeterred. “She’s not very bright, is she?” he complains. “I mean, if there were a wolf dressed up as MY Grandma, I might have noticed right away.” Simple line drawings à la Sandra Boynton give the animals adorably large snouts and tiny bodies, while lots of white space and props that come and go give the story a theatrical feel, as if the two were doing improv. There’s plenty of subversive laughter, and a sly turn at the end when the cat’s bloodthirsty account of the climax exposes the dog’s tenderer feelings: “Are you absolutely sure this is a children’s book?” he asks. Ages 4–8. Agent: Marilyn Malin Consultancy. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Diane and Christyan FoxASTRONAUT PIGGYWIGGY"The cartoon illustrations are playful and imaginative." —SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNALWHAT COLOR IS THAT, PIGGYWIGGY? and COUNT TO TEN, PIGGYWIGGY!"Humorous illustrations with thick black lines and solid blocks of color add a lot of fun to both books." —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

From the Publisher

06/01/2014
K-Gr 2—Children who liked Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith's The Stinky Cheese Man (Viking, 1992) or The True Story of the Three Little Pigs! (Viking, 1989) will find that this fractured fairy tale is right up their alley. As Cat attempts to tell Dog the story of "Little Red Riding Hood," Dog constantly interrupts, asking questions and making comments. Cat snaps even before the wolf arrives and yells, "There's NO kindness ray, NO flying basket, and NO exploding eggs. She's just a sweet little girl with terrible fashion sense on her way to see her Grandmother." And on it goes until Dog's parting question, "Is Grandma still in the closet [hiding]?" At this point, Cat throws the book at him. In all fairness to Dog, Grandma's whereabouts after "Little Red Riding Hood's father arrived and chopped off the wolf's head with an axe!" is not specifically mentioned. The illustrations are simple, yet effective, black-and-white line drawings of Cat and Dog highlighted with color bits, such as the aforementioned axe (no blood), storybook, Red's basket, grandma's bed, etc. There is ample white space, allowing readers to focus on the words. Excellent use is made of bold type and capital letters for emphasis. Placement of text and illustrations varies from page to page, which helps to keep the story moving along. And make sure children don't miss the great comments about the endpapers on, where else, the endpapers. Great fun.—Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH

School Library Journal

2014-05-14
A metafictive examination of "Little Red Riding Hood."The book opens and closes with a cartoon-style dog and cat—the main characters—discussing the endpapers on the endpapers. They also appear on the title page, the cat with dripping paintbrush in paw, apparently having just finished painting the title. The story begins in earnest as the cat reads "Little Red Riding Hood" aloud to the dog, the text of the tale appearing as a printed sheet of paper, which appears along with the dog and cat against the white background. Believing Little Red to be a superhero, the dog asks what her special power is. The cat explains that Little Red has no superpowers, but the dog continues to drive the cat to distraction. Interestingly, while the grandmother hides in a closet and so avoids being eaten, Little Red's father appears and cuts off the wolf's head before Little Red is swallowed—a strange deus ex machina salvation that is not quite as violent as the original story. (It's violent enough for the dog to question the story's appropriateness for children, however.) The use of minimal color and objects in the illustrations, coupled with the sometimes-advanced humor, suits the book to older readers with prior knowledge of both fairy tales and superheroes and maturing attention spans. Unfortunately, the book is more metafiction than story, making it feel more an exercise than, well, a book.Too smart for its own good. (Picture book. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews