Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China
Translated by: Ed Young
Illustrated by: Ed Young
Published in 1989 Penguin Putnam Books in NY
Genre: Traditional Tale--Folk Tale, Animal Tale (Multicultural Work)
Ages: Grades K-2
Award: Caldecott Medal Winner (1990)
Summary: This red-riding hood tale is quite different from the one most Americans are familiar with. In this tale three children are left home alone when their mother leaves to visit their grandmother one night. The wolf outside hears of her departure and decides to play a trick on the young girls. He poses as their grandmother, their "Po Po," and, of course, they believe that that is who he is. They allow him into their home, but one girl spots his hairy face despite the darkness. The girls plan a trick for the wolf by telling him that he will live forever if he just picks ginko nuts from a tall ginko tree in their yard and, because the wolf cannot climb, the girls climb the tree and then attempt to raise him to the top in a basket because the nuts only work if one picks them oneself. Eventually, the wolf dies from a fall in the basket that the girls planned for their own survival.
Response: I was really amazed at the similarities between the story I am familiar with and this one, especially considering that they were written in such completely different cultures. The illustrations in this work are very interesting and actually won the Caldecott Medal in 1990 for most distinguished picture book. I would consider this artist's renderings impressionistic because the lines in this work are not well-defined. In these watercolor illustrations, everything is very "fuzzy." The colors are blended together and not stark. All but two pages in this work are double-pages spreads and many of them are sectioned works, which are a favorite type of mine! There exists much color in this work, which is muted somewhat by the blending the author uses.
One illustration that I found very interesting was on pages 11-12. To depict and emphasize the wolf's hairy face that one of the girls noticed, Mr. Young painted the wolf's face with blue, green, orange, and yellow. I believe this was a very creative way to emphasize this and it certainly did catch my attention!
Another interesting thing I noticed about the illustration on page 24 is that when the girls are letting go of the rope, there are only five hands in the picture, not six. I wonder if the author did this intentionally, and if so, why, or if he simply failed to realize his mistake.
Everytime I read one of these stories, I hope that the children will realize that the wolf is not their grandmother before they let her into the house! However, this never seems to be the case. At least they do think of a very creative way to get rid of the wolf by themeselves before he hurts (or eats) them!
I thought the girl's idea of the ginko tree was very creative! It made me wonder what ages these children were. Obviously, they were old enough to be left alone. I also wondered why they did not go with their mother to visit their grandmother. Obviously, that would not have given the opportunity for the story, but one would think that they would want to visit their grandmother on her birthday!
Teaching Connections: Obviously, one thing a teacher could do with this work would be to do a Venn Diagram comparing the original story and this one. A teacher could even do a shaped Venn Diagram like the one mentioned with The Little Red Hen.
Another suggestions is to, after having read both of these stories, have students write their own red riding hood story from another country and illustrate it, possibly in sections the way Ed Young did this book.
I think this work teaches a great lesson to children that they need to be sure of who they let into their homes, not because it could be a wolf, but because bad things can happen from simple mishaps of mistaking one person from another. I think when reading this book to young children that it is important to stress the point of safety and I believe that this book offers that opportunity.
Translated by: Ed Young
Illustrated by: Ed Young
Published in 1989 Penguin Putnam Books in NY
Genre: Traditional Tale--Folk Tale, Animal Tale (Multicultural Work)
Ages: Grades K-2
Award: Caldecott Medal Winner (1990)
Summary: This red-riding hood tale is quite different from the one most Americans are familiar with. In this tale three children are left home alone when their mother leaves to visit their grandmother one night. The wolf outside hears of her departure and decides to play a trick on the young girls. He poses as their grandmother, their "Po Po," and, of course, they believe that that is who he is. They allow him into their home, but one girl spots his hairy face despite the darkness. The girls plan a trick for the wolf by telling him that he will live forever if he just picks ginko nuts from a tall ginko tree in their yard and, because the wolf cannot climb, the girls climb the tree and then attempt to raise him to the top in a basket because the nuts only work if one picks them oneself. Eventually, the wolf dies from a fall in the basket that the girls planned for their own survival.
Response: I was really amazed at the similarities between the story I am familiar with and this one, especially considering that they were written in such completely different cultures. The illustrations in this work are very interesting and actually won the Caldecott Medal in 1990 for most distinguished picture book. I would consider this artist's renderings impressionistic because the lines in this work are not well-defined. In these watercolor illustrations, everything is very "fuzzy." The colors are blended together and not stark. All but two pages in this work are double-pages spreads and many of them are sectioned works, which are a favorite type of mine! There exists much color in this work, which is muted somewhat by the blending the author uses.
One illustration that I found very interesting was on pages 11-12. To depict and emphasize the wolf's hairy face that one of the girls noticed, Mr. Young painted the wolf's face with blue, green, orange, and yellow. I believe this was a very creative way to emphasize this and it certainly did catch my attention!
Another interesting thing I noticed about the illustration on page 24 is that when the girls are letting go of the rope, there are only five hands in the picture, not six. I wonder if the author did this intentionally, and if so, why, or if he simply failed to realize his mistake.
Everytime I read one of these stories, I hope that the children will realize that the wolf is not their grandmother before they let her into the house! However, this never seems to be the case. At least they do think of a very creative way to get rid of the wolf by themeselves before he hurts (or eats) them!
I thought the girl's idea of the ginko tree was very creative! It made me wonder what ages these children were. Obviously, they were old enough to be left alone. I also wondered why they did not go with their mother to visit their grandmother. Obviously, that would not have given the opportunity for the story, but one would think that they would want to visit their grandmother on her birthday!
Teaching Connections: Obviously, one thing a teacher could do with this work would be to do a Venn Diagram comparing the original story and this one. A teacher could even do a shaped Venn Diagram like the one mentioned with The Little Red Hen.
Another suggestions is to, after having read both of these stories, have students write their own red riding hood story from another country and illustrate it, possibly in sections the way Ed Young did this book.
I think this work teaches a great lesson to children that they need to be sure of who they let into their homes, not because it could be a wolf, but because bad things can happen from simple mishaps of mistaking one person from another. I think when reading this book to young children that it is important to stress the point of safety and I believe that this book offers that opportunity.
(Image retrieved from http://www.valdosta.edu/%7Erltowns/LON_PO_PO.jpg on 4 April 2008)
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