Porridge Please! by Laura Mucha illustrated by Marc Boutavant

STOP - do not open this book and do not share this book with your young reading companion or library group until everyone is very familiar with a couple of famous stories - Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, and Little Red Riding Hood. Okay so you know and the children know all of those. Now STOP again. Sit somewhere comfy and take your time. There are quite a few stories going on in this book - and you will miss them if you rush past. You need to notice every detail in every scene including of course the cover - although it might be better to look at the cover more closely AFTER you read this book because it does contain a serious spoiler!

Do you remember what happened in Can't you sleep little Bear? by Martin Waddell illustrated by Barbara Firth? In that story Big Bear is trying to read his book - he keeps getting to the interesting part and then he is interrupted. Baby Bear, in Porridge Please, has the same problem. He is reading his book when there is a knock on the door. It is Goldilocks and she has come back for a dish of delicious porridge. Baby Bear heads upstairs again and settles down with his book but there is another knock on the door. This time it is Little Red Riding Hood and she is also after a bowl of porridge. Baby Bear heads upstairs for the third time but oh no the little pigs are at the door. Will Baby Bear ever get back to his book? He is beyond exasperated when there is yet another knock on the door - but who is this? Is this Granny or is it ... ?

Baby Bear settles down with his book again, but something is worrying him. Are all his porridge eating guests okay downstairs?

Meanwhile another scene is unfolding on the side of the house. Do you remember the broken chair from the original story? Well Father Bear and Mother Bear, who seem to have missed hearing all that knocking on the door of their cottage, are busy repairing the sweet broken chair and to see how this begins and ends you need to linger over the end papers.

But wait - there's more! Keep your eye on the roof of the cottage. A stork has arrived - can you guess her plan? Oh and I do wonder about the title of the book that Baby Bear has been trying to read - it clearly is a fabulous story.

In case you’re wondering whether Bear ever did get to read that last page, you’ll have to get your own copy of their book to find out. One thing that is certain though is that young listeners will endorse the READ IT AGAIN! plea on the final endpapers.
 Red Reading Hub

I love to eat porridge especially in winter and especially in cafes where they add delicious extras. Here is a Pinterest of other picture books about porridge. 

Laura Mucha is an author and poet for both children and adults. Her writing has won multiple international awards and been featured on TV and radio. In 2024, Laura was the runner up for the Ruth Rendell Award for the author who’s had the most significant influence on literacy in the UK over the past year. Her books include Rita's Rabbit, illustrated by Hannah Peck, Dear Ugly Sisters and Celebrate! Laura lives in London. The Italian version of this book is on the shortlist for an Italian book prize called The Andersen Prize (not related to the Hans Christian Andersen Award from IBBY). 

Here is another book by Laura Mucha:

Marc Boutavant is an award-winning graphic artist, illustrator and comic book author. He has illustrated numerous children’s books, including I Am Not an Octopus and Not An Alphabet Book: The Case of the Missing Cake, both written by Eoin McLaughlin, and Never Tickle a Tiger, written by Pamela Butchart. He is also the creator of the bestselling Around the World with Mouk, which has been adapted into a television series for Disney Junior UK. Marc lives in Paris.

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

"Once, long ago, there was a woman who lived alone in the country with her three children, Shang, Tao, and Paotze. On the day of their grandmother's birthday, the good mother set off to see her, leaving the three children at home."

So what will the children do when a wolf, disguised as an old woman, knocks on their door. She claims to be their Po Po or grandmother and using very persuasive language and the children open the door and let her in. She immediately blows out the candle. In the darkness the children gradually realise this is all a trick.

"Po Po your foot has a bush on it." - it is hemp strings to weave you a basket.

"Po Po your hand has thorns on it."  it is an awl to make shoes for you.

Luckily these three children are very clever. They tell Po Po about some delicious ginko nuts in a high tree outside. Make sure you also think about the pattern of three in the story.

Lon Po Po won the Caldecott Medal in 1990. This ensures that it stay in print and here in Australia the paperback version is available for a lower price. This week I am talking about books written and illustrated by Ed Young because he sadly died very recently. 

Listen to this Fuse8n'Kate podcast where Betsy Bird and her sister talk in depth about Lon Po Po. 

My friend from Kinderbookswitheverything has a huge list of other Red Riding Hood stories. Look for these:

This one is a wordless book that I am very keen to read.

Red and the City by Marie Voigt

Red sets off with her dog Woody to take a cake to grandmother. Her mother tells Red to 

"Follow the heart flowers; take care with crossing the road; stay on the path; and don't talk to strangers."

If you know the original story of Little Red Riding Hood you will anticipate that things will go wrong but this is a modern retelling with mobile phones and a city to cross not a forest but of course the big bad wolf is hovering over every scene.

As with all good fairy tales there is a happy ending but it is very different from the one you will remember from the traditional tale.

This would be a fabulous book to share with a group of older children because you could discuss consumerism. If you collect fractured fairy tales this book is a must add to your collection. The graphic black and white illustrations with spots of red are very appealing. This debut picture book was first published in 2018 and was short listed for the Klaus Flugge Prize in 2019. Here is the web site for Marie Voigt.

The colour palette of greys, black and white is so dystopian and the effect is stunning. It isn’t scary, but like a fairy-tale, there is a hint of darkness at the edges. Little Red, in her bright coat, is in danger of being lost to the enormity of the city.  Book Murmuration

I am so Clever by Mario Ramos

"One gloriously sunny morning, the wolf came upon 

Little Red Riding Hood."

The wolf warns Little Red there are dangers in the woods. Ferocious creatures such as sharks! Little Red is not fooled. The wolf, though, thinks he has tricked the little girl and so he leaves her collecting flowers convinced he will soon be enjoying a meal of Grandmother with a little berry for dessert.

Wolf enters grandma's house (she is not home) and he puts on her pink frilly nightie.  He notices his own paw prints near the door and heads outside to clear them away. The door slams behind him and he left outside. Wolf is so embarrassed he heads off into the forest. He has no idea he is about to meet Robin Hood, the Three Bears, the Three Little pigs and even all Seven Dwarfs (who are heading off for a swim). Everyone mistakes him for the kindly grandmother.  Wolf is almost speechless with rage. He twists and turns trying to take off the nightie. Eventually Little Red Riding Hood shows up. She helps the now broken wolf but is this really the end?

I haven't seen the first two titles about Wolf but I imagine they are just as hilarious as this new installment -  I am so Clever.

Last week I was able to look through the shelves in the library of my friend and borrow some of her newest books. Australian Standing Orders offer a subscription of International titles. This book comes from Gecko Press.  We are so lucky they take the trouble to source fabulous books as explained here:

Gecko Press is an independent publisher, based in Wellington. Every year Gecko Press translates and publishes a small number of carefully-selected children’s books by some of the world’s best writers and illustrators, from countries including France, Germany, Japan, Poland and the Netherlands.

My friend from Kinderbookboard has collected over sixty other versions of Little Red Riding Hood for you to explore and compare. Make sure you add this title to your 'to read' list. It would be perfect to share in a class or library session and even better if you can share all three titles.  Mario Ramos has a wonderful web site. He wrote and illustrated thirty books but sadly only the titles featured here seem to have been translated into English. I wonder if he had plans for more books about our hapless wolf. Sadly Mario died in 2012.

Author/illustrator Mario Ramos 1958-2012 

Image Gecko Press https://geckopress.com/author_illustrator/mario-ramos/

Celebrating 200 years of Grimm

The Grimm brothers collected 211 fairy tales starting with a collection published in 1812.  Among the best known are Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel and Rapunzel.  In our school library we have a huge collection of illustrated fairy tales some simple versions for younger readers and others intended for an older audience.  Many have gorgeous illustrations. One of my favourite books as a child was a huge fairy tale anthology which included many of the famous stories. You can see a full list of all the tales they collected here.

Today Google celebrated the 200 year anniversary with a cute little slide show or doodle based on Little Red Riding Hood.  You can read about this process here or view a video of the slides with music.

Do you have a favourite Grimm tale? My favourite fairy tale is actually by Hans Christian Andersen and not the Grimm Brothers -  The Six Swans or The Wild Swans.  I have included an image from my old book which features photos of puppets and an interesting cover made from plastic that you move to see in 3D from the 1960s.  This story and this particular edition fascinated me as a child.