Perfect Picture Book Friday-Little Red Hot

Posted on by Penny Parker Klostermann

I’m a Texas gal, and since I love me some hot sauce and jalapenos, you can imagine how fired up I got when I found heard about…

Little-Red-Hot_Little Red Hot

Written by Eric A. Kimmel

Illustrated by Laura Huliska-Beith

Two Lions (Amazon Children’s Publishing) 2013

Ages 4-8

Themes: Fractured Fairy Tales

Synopsis: (from Goodreads) Little Red Hot loves red hot chili peppers. She eats them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When her grandmother catches a cold, Little Red makes her a hot pepper pie that will knock those cold germs right out of her. But before Little Red shares her pie with Grandma, she meets Señor Lobo and the pie comes in very handy when the wily wolf tries to trick her into thinking he’s her grandmother.

Opening: Once upon a time there was a little biddy Texas gal called Little Red Hot. Folks called her that because she loved to eat red hot chili peppers. She ate peppers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She ate pepper ice cream for dessert. She had hot pepper cake for her birthday with jalapeños on top instead of candles. Folks used to say that Little Red Hot could eat fire out of a stove. Little Red Hot would answer, “No, I wouldn’t do that. Fire ain’t hot enough.”

Resources: Read, Write, Think has this great tool for writing fractured fairy tales, HERE. Challenge children to write a fractured fairy tale that uses a food item and include food puns for humor. HERE is a lesson plan from Education World for writing fractured fairy tales.

Why I Like This Book: Fractured fairy tales have always been a favorite of mine. I love that they are based on stories that have been told for generations. Since most children are already familiar with the story line of the tale, I think they tend to relax into the retelling which gives them a chance to enjoy the humor, language, and wordplay even more. As far as fractured fairy tales go, Little Red Hot ranks way up there in my opinion. The story telling is superb and I was immediately drawn to Little Red Hot’s spunkiness. In fact, she has so much spunk that I was confident that Señor Lobo would get his comeuppance, and wondered why he didn’t take one look at that little red cowboy and run howling for the hills. Well, in the end, there is some howling involved, and not just from Señor Lobo. I was howling with laughter!!! So saddle up, ride on down to the library, and bring this delightful book home with you. I’ll bet you a four alarm chili pepper that it will become on of your faves!

Susanna Leonard Hill features Perfect Picture Book Friday on her blog. This is a wonderful resource if you are wondering what books to give as gifts, needing material for a lesson, or just looking for a great book to read. Here is a list of books by category. Each book listed has a link to a review, information about that book, and resources for activities. There is also an alphabetical list.

31 thoughts on “Perfect Picture Book Friday-Little Red Hot”

  1. Dangnabbit – I had this on hold, but when the book was not on the shelf at the participating library it got ‘knocked’ – so here I go again, this time with more ‘spunk’!

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  3. Well, shucks! This book sounds brilliant! I’m fixin’ to add it to my library list! Can’t wait to read it and find out what that little girl does to the big bad wolf! Thanks for sharing!

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  4. When I read my first fractured fairy tales, I wasn’t a fan. But now I’ve come to appreciate them so much more. And I LOVE this one. Clever and funny! Great review, Penny…and wonderful activities/resources as well.

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  6. I am thinking I need to look for this book, as hubby is needing some red hot chili pepper to help him get over his flu. 😉 whadda ya say?
    Very cool er hot review and book Penny, thanks!

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    1. I hope you get to read it soon, Joanna! I noticed you reviewed The Tooth Mouse. I reviewed that one, too…isn’t it great? I had no idea about that tradition 🙂

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    1. Wendy, you’re so right about all of the zany and fun twists on fairy tales. They’re great, right? And Penny, this looks as if it will not fail to deliver in tickling our fractured sensibilities. Thanks for the great resources. You’re a teacher’s teacher.

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