Reading Journal--Two Fun Books For Halloween And Beyond

Little Red Hood by Marjolaine Leray
originally published in French, by Actes Sud Junior, (c) 2009
translated by Sarah Ardizzone, (c) 2011
First published in the UK in 2011 by Phoenix Yard Books, Phoenix Yard, 65 King's Cross Road, London, WCIX 9LW
reprinted 2013
40 pp (with NO TITLE PAGE)
two colors only, (red and black), on clean white pages
very small, appealing trim size--about 5" x 7"

This is an amazingly simple rendition of the traditional story of Little Red Riding Hood. There are only two characters in the story, Hood, and the Wolf. The text is hand-written, with the wolf's dialog in black ink, Hood's in red. The characters look almost like doodles, yet convey immense impact. Full of black humor, this is the ultimate stranger-danger book, which teaches both the power of "no" and don't take candy from strangers, without frightening the reader about the world. A great book to study for how to convey emotion with absolute economy of drawing. Drawing and text in black and red only on white pages--it feels very complete. I love this book!




Bone Dog by Eric Rohmann
Roaring Brook Press, (c) 2011
32 pp plus 1 tipped-in sheet of vellum plus blue endpapers

A charming story in the "dead-dog" genre, suitable for Halloween, but also readable anytime. I particularly like the flow of lines and gestures that move the book forward, including three wordless spreads near the end. The story has a very satisfying ending. Eric Rohmann won the 2003 Caldecott for My Friend Rabbit.