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

Title: Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China

Author/Illustrator: Ed Young

Target Age Range: 4-8

Genre: Picture Book, Folklore, Fable, Myth, Multicultural

Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China presents three girls, Shang, Tao, and Paotze who are left alone by their mother who has gone to visit their grandmother. When wolf-grandmother comes to their door is was quite a surprise. Once they realize that it is the neighborhood wolf, they attempt to lure the wolf away and together they vanquish the wolf villain who was very smart, but not as clever as three little girls.

Ed Young made this dedication in the book: 

To all the wolves of the world

for lending their good name

as a tangible symbol 

for our darkness

About the Author/Illustrator: Ed Young

Ed Young, winner of the 1990 Caldecott Medal, has illustrated over 40 books for children, four of which he has also written. He cites the philosophy of Chinese painting as his inspiration. 

“A Chinese painting is often accompanied by words,” explains Young. “They are complementary. There are things that words do that pictures never can, and likewise, there are images that words can never describe.”

“I feel the story has to be an exciting and moving experience for a child,” Young explains. “Before I am involved with a project, I must be moved, and as I grow, I try to create something exciting. It is my purpose to stimulate growth in the reader as an active participant.”

Ed Young was born in Tienstin, China. He grew up in Shanghai and later moved to Hong Kong. He came to the United States as a young man on a student visa. A graduate of the Los Angeles Art Center, Young has since taught at the Pratt Institute, Yale University, Naropa Institute, and the University of California at Santa Cruz. 

His watercolors and pastels are the real star of this story, evoking dark danger in their richness and honoring ancient Chinese panel art at the same time. He presents a gather-around-the-campfire good ghost story, with a live-to-see-the-light-of-day ending.

Discussion Questions

1. Where is China located on the map?
2. How is the location of China different from the United States?
3. Why does the title mention Red-Riding Hood?
4. How is this folktale similar and different from the more traditional version of Little Red-Riding Hood?
5. What feelings do the illustrations add to the text?
6. Do you think this story would be as entertaining without the illustrations?
7. What is the theme of this book?
8. How do the sisters work together to rid themselves of the wolf?

Motivational Activity

• Before reading have students use watercolors to paint their vision of the Red-Riding Hood Story. Compare their illustrations with Ed Young's.
• Pair students together and have them create a different version of Red-Riding Hood.
• List together words in the text that are from another culture (i.e. ginko, hemp) and discuss their significance in multicultural literature. Why does the author use words the reader may be unfamiliar with?
• Compare and contrast Lon Po Po with Little Red Riding Hood using a graphic organizer.

Other books by Ed Young:

Seven Blind Mice

Cat and Rat: The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac

The Lost Horse: A Chinese Folktale

Young, Ed. (1989) Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China. New York, NY: Philomel Books