Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood story from China

Young, E., Young, E., Stevens, J., & Stevenson, N. (1989). Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood story from China. New York: Philomel Books. ISBN: 0698113829

Plot Summary
This traditional tale is the Chinese version of Little Red Riding Hood. The big bad wolf finds the perfect time to try to trick 3 young sisters, Shang, Tao, and Paotze. While their mother leaves them home alone to visit their Grandma “PoPo” for her birthday. The wolf easily tricks the girls into believing that he is their Grandma PoPo so they let him in. Shang, the eldest, clever sister immediately gets suspicious and starts to question the wolf. After noticing the wolf’s hairy face, Shang devises a plan to trick the wolf into going up a tree to pluck a “magical” nut. The wolf ends up falling to his death! Both, the wolf and the three young sisters, learn a valuable life lesson of trust in the conclusion of the story.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Lon Po Po is a Caldecott award winning book that will never get old! Everyone knows the European version of Little Red Riding Hood, but what about an Asian twist to it! Readers will catch themselves naturally comparing the similarities between both European and Chinese tales.

Young’s illustrations brings the culture to life! Readers are able to view the story through what looks like a Chinese panel. In addition, Young's unique illustrations creates the illusion of a wolf in almost every page of this book. Readers will find themselves holding the book at an angle to see the hidden picture! Readers will be also able to view other authentic cultural markers within the panels such as the traditional Asian silk Kimono robes, the sister's hairstyles (bowl cut bangs), and the characters’ glowing skin tone.

The author’s use of interlingual words exposes readers to the Chinese dialect. Readers will learn different names like “Lon Po Po” which means granny wolf in English. Young made sure not to use common English names and remained authentic to the Asian culture by naming the three sisters Shang, Tao, and Paotze. In addition, readers will also notice the role of the oldest child in the Chinese culture. Shang acts as the heroic leader with a master plan. Unlike the stereotypical role of a shy gullible Asian woman, she decides to fight back! 

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Horn Book Guide

"Young has given his fine retelling of this Red-Riding Hood variant the look of old Chinese decorative panels. The illustrations throb with the mystery and terror of the wolf and the round-eyed fright of the children."

School Library Journal 
"With forceful impressionistic paintings, Young artfully entices readers across the fairy-tale threshold into a story of three girls' fearless battle of wits with a famished wolf."

Connection
As a reading teacher, I would love to compare both the European tale of Little Red Riding Hood to the Asian tale Lon Po Po with my students!

Check out this lesson! https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/lon-po-po-chinese-fairy-tale-lesson-plan/