Carmine: A Little More Red Book

This creative take on the classic "Little Red Riding Hood" is set up in an ABC book format. But don't be mistaken, it's no baby book. Melissa Sweet has chosen to highlight some wonderful words as she tells the story of Carmine dilly-dallying on her way to grandma's house. The reader is sure to expand their vocabulary with words like exquisite, indeed, lurking, reckoned, and surreal.

The story opens with Carmine (cleverly named a shade of red) painting a picture in her bedroom, thinking about how Granny taught her to read with alphabet soup, when her mother tells her that granny is on the phone. The next illustration shows Carmine's side of the conversation, as granny invites her over for soup. In a speech bubble, Carmine states, "Uh-huh. I'll be careful" and "Huh-uh. I won't stop along the way." Carmine's mother even shouts to Carmine not to dilly dally, when Carmine rides away on her bicycle. As the reader would probably guess, Carmine does not go straight to Granny's, she decides to stop and rest, but realizes that the light is exquisite that morning and she decides to paint a picture. While Carmine is painting, her dog, Rufus, notices an odd scent in the air, one he is certain is a wolf. Carmine is so involved in the painting she is making for Granny, she misses many signs that she should get on her way. Then, Rufus comes face to face with the wolf and a humorous conversation takes place. Wolf finds out they are on there way to Granny's, and when he makes a surprise visit, Granny shouts "WOLF!" so loudly that Carmine is able to hear from the top of the hill. After entering the house, and looking at the clues in the kitchen, Carmine decides granny is missing. But wait! She hears a distant yodeling, and discovers Granny in the closet. The story ends happily when Carmine is able to give Granny the painting she painted along the way and promises never to dawdle again.

This happy ending version is a nice twist to an old favorite and even includes some other popular fairytales throughout. The three blind mice, and the three little pigs are cleverly referred to in this already funny book.

Reading the pictures is a must in this version. Some text is included in speech bubbles and parts of the story will be missed if the detailed pictures are not closely examined.

This book could be used in many ways in a 1st-5th grade classroom. The vocabulary lends itself to lessons related to context clues, and the illustrations would be a great match for a strategy lesson on making inferences. It would also be a great mentor text for an ABC book project.