Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood

Rating:
Summary: A Great Fractured Fairy Tale
Review: As a classroom teacher, I am always looking for new, entertaining books for my class. This book is well-written in the Cajun dialect and exposes children to the Cajun culture while entertaining them with a different version of Little Red Riding Hood. It is best read aloud, and is just as fun for the adult to read as for the child. I would (and have) recommended this book for anyone looking for a new twist to the traditional Little Red Riding Hood story.

Rating:
Summary: It sho right fo me!
Review: My kids pick out four stories before bed at night and this one seems to make it into the reading pile every time. The Cajun accent looks tricky at first glance, but like all the other reviewers noted it really does roll off your tongue. We live in Ireland and all the kids here think that the tone of the book is absolutely hilarious...the fabulous illustrations fill in any Cajun-comprehension gaps!

Rating:
Summary: Dat book, it be fonny!
Review: Petite Rouge is a side-splitting, knee-slapping version of Little Red Riding Hood with a Cajun flare. As a 1st grade teacher I am always looking for great books to read aloud to my class and this is the best one I have come across in a long time. Petite Rouge just begs to be read aloud. Don't be intimidated by the way the Cajun dialect is written, the words end up rolling off your tongue. You will sound like you were born in the Bayou when you read this one.

Rating:
Summary: Petite Rouge: A Cajun Red Riding Hood
Review: This book is a Cajun version of the classic Little Red Riding Hood story. In this version, Red Ridding Hood is a clever little duck and the wolf has been replaced with a sly looking alligator named Claude. The story is sassy and fun and the dialog is written phonetically so you actually start sounding like a Cajun. But what is truly exceptional about this book are the illustrations. They are expressive and witty and the detail is amazing. Every time I read the book, I find something new hidden in the picture (a cup propping up a window, a duck faced Mona Lisa picture, bunny slippers on the floor, etc). It also became a game for my son to find the mouse hidden somewhere in (almost) every picture. Even if you don't have kids, this book is worth having just as a conversation piece.

Rating:
Summary: Dat book, it be fonny!
Review: This book is truly beloved in our household. It's everybody's favorite. If I'm reading it to my kindergartner, my middle-schooler will drift into the room to sit on the bed and listen, even though she's heard it a hundred times. It's a hilarious, affectionate re-telling of the fairy tale, and it's as southern as the Spanish moss and shrimp etouffee, gumbo and gator-filled swamps that sprawl across its pages. Petite Rouge (a duck) turns out to be quite a bit feistier than her traditional fairy-tale counterpart. She stands up to Claude (a gator) and manages to outwit him in a thoroughly southern denouement. The illustrations are warm and expressive and every bit as funny and delightful as the text. A book like this is a gift; enjoy it!

Rating:
Summary: I like dem story!
Review: This is the most wonderful of books! You can't read the book outloud without magically developing a Louisiana accent, for the phonetic system devised by the author is so easy to use. I love to make ole Claude, the alligator, have a rough, raspy voice. My four-year-old son absolutely loves this book, and his pre-school teacher read it to the whole class. It's fun, it's funny, it gives you a taste of Cajun culture and of the French language, and the illustrations are delightful! I've read it to my adult friends as well-- everyone loves it!