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

Citation: Young, Ed. 1989. Lon Po Po a Red-Riding Hood story from China. New York, NY: Philomel Books. ISBN: 0-399-21619-7.

Plot Summary: Three sisters are left at home alone while their mother goes to Grandma's. The sneaky, wily wolf tries to sneak his way into the girl's home. But the girls outsmart the wolf and get him off task with a tasty treat of ginkgo nuts. Without focus wolf loses his original treat (the girls) and his life in the process.

Critical Analysis: Lon Po Po is a Chinese version of Little Red Riding Hood. There are a couple more characters with the three sisters than the U.S. version. The story set in the country side of China. There is no electricity or paved roads. The wolf who pretends to be grandmother/Po Po is uses his sneaky ways to get close to the three girls who are left alone. The wolf gets in but loses his focus. Instead of going in for his intended purpose (to get the girls) The girls outsmart him by luring him outside with the thought of eternal life through the ginkgo nuts. "Gingko is soft and tender, like the skin of a baby. One taste and you will live forever," Shang said, "and the nuts grow on the top of the tree just outside the door." After just a simple statement of wits from the eldest girl, it is all downhill for the wolf after that. As quickly as wolf lost his focus he ends up losing his life. This is a good story for children to see how when they are not paying attention what things can happen. I did not see a lot of cultural markers other than the fact of the location and the gingko nuts. The avoidance of conflict by outsmarting the wolf could be a cultural marker, because the western version ends with someone else saving Little Red Riding Hood, but in the Chinese version the girls, the eldest in particular, outsmart the villain.

Reviews Accessed: Horn Book starred (February, 1990) Young has given his fine retelling of this Red-Riding Hood variant the look of old School Library Journal (December 1989)

Gr 1-5-- A gripping variation on Red Riding Hood that involves three little sisters who outsmart the wolf ( lon or long in Cantonese) who has gained entry to their home under the false pretense of being their maternal grandmother ( Po Po ). The clever animal blows out the candle before the children can see him , and is actually in bed with them when they start asking the traditional ``Why, Grandma!'' questions. The eldest realizes the truth and tricks the wolf into letting them go outside to pick gingko nuts , and then lures him to his doom. The text possesses that matter-of-fact veracity that characterizes the best fairy tales.

Connections: Aardema, Verna. Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears: A West African Tale. ISBN:0140549056

Weisner, David. The Three Pigs. ISBN: 0618007016. Young, Ed. The Sons of the Dragon King: A Chinese Legend. ISBN: 0689851847