Lon Po Po

Lon Po Po
Ed Young
Fiction, Folklore
K-3
Philomel Books New York 1989

Lon Po Po is an ancient Chinese folktale about three sisters who are home alone while their Mother is visiting their grandmother or their Po Po. That night there was a knock at the door. on the other side of the door their is a wolf who was pretending to be their grandmother. At first the girls were confused but soon the oldest sister Shang noticed that Po Po has claws and a tail she then realizes that it is a wolf not their Grandmother. The Shang devise a very clever plan to trick the wolf. they tell it that it should eat some of the gingko nuts that were growing on the tree outside. The girls tell the wolf that the nuts will make it live forever. The girls agree to climb up the tree to pick some nuts. Then they tell the wolf that it must climb the tree and pick the nut itself to reap their benefits. The girls devise a contraption to pull the wolf up the tree. the girls pulled the wolf partially up the tree and pretended to accidentally lose their grip and sent the wolf tumbling down to the ground. The girls did this three times the third being fatal. The girls were then able to go to sleep and their mother returned home safely the next day.

I was previously unaware that this version of Little Red Riding Hood existed. This book put a new spin on the version of the story I grew up with. I think I like this book better than the American version because of how clever the sisters were. The sisters led by Shang were smart and clever and able to take care of themselves. They were not out smarted by the wolf the way Little Red Riding Hood was. Nor were they weak and defenseless. This book could be used to start a discussion on the differences between the two versions so the become more aware of details. Also children can be taught about folklore through this book.

The Illustrations in this book were double page spreads with a boarder. They were done with watercolor by Young. The illustrations were done is dark hues to emphasized the danger and suspense that was in the story.The Illustrations were outstanding but like mot folklore this tale could have been effectively told without illustrations.