Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young

This multicultural and international literature picture book reveals a Chinese version of Little Red Riding Hood. In this particular version, it is the mother who leaves the home to visit the grandmother. She leaves her three daughters at home and tells them to keep the door locked and stay inside until she returns. Soon after their mother leaves, a wolf knocks at their door and disguises his voice to be that of their grandmother’s. Convinced that it is their grandmother, who they call “Po Po”, the three girls let the wolf in. Once inside, the wolf quickly does everything possible to avoid having the girls notice his real identity. Despite his effort, the girls pick up on their grandmother’s unusual attributes and cleverly make an effort to get him outside. The girls attracted the wolf to a gingko tree and tricked him into a basket, in which they repeatedly dropped and eventually caused his death. After clarifying his death, the girls went back to their house to wait for their mother to return. As you can see, this version of Little Red Riding Hood is drastically different. However, I believe both versions could be used during a Reading lesson to make comparisons among them. In addition, I like that this book could be used to introduce students into the Chinese culture and stories they have passed down orally.