Little Red and the Big Bad Editor by Rebecca Kraft Rector and Shanda McCloskey - ESSENTIAL

Little Red and the Big Bad Editor by Rebecca Kraft Rector illustrated by Shanda McCloskey. PICTURE BOOK Aladdin. 2022. $17. 9781534469297

BUYING ADVISORY: Pre-K, EL (K-3), EL - ESSENTIAL 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH 

Kids and teachers will enjoy this fractured fairy tale. Little Red's Grandma sent her a beautiful red cape. In her enthusiasm, Little Red wrote her a thank you letter and set off to deliver it to her. Along the way, she meets Mr. Wolf. He eagerly reads her thank you letter and wants to give her feedback on her writing, punctuation, and format. As she edits and revises her letter to her Grandma, she gets closer to her house. Hopefully Little Red will make it unharmed and intact with a well-written thank you letter. 

Fractured fairy tales are always fun, and this had a fun twist with the letter writing. It would be appeal to young and older elementary-age students because of the letter-writing tips throughout the book. It used excellent word choice and provided a lot of vivid similes and idioms. My four-year-old daughter enjoyed it even though a lot of it was over her head.

A. Criswell, English Language Arts