Review - Little Rude Riding Hood

Little Rude Riding Hood (Twisted Fairy Tales)
by Jo Franklin
illustrated by Chris Jevons
Date: 2020
Publisher: Arcturus Publishing
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Once upon a time, a fairy tale went very wrong! This new twist on a traditional children's story is packed with fun, humour, and energy.

Little Rude is incredibly cheeky to everyone that she meets. She doesn't even know the meaning of "please" and "thank you!" However, that could all change when she meets a surprisingly polite wolf on her way to Grandma's house.

Will Little Rude's constant insults drive even this newly reformed Big Bad Wolf over the edge? This riotously funny remix on the traditional fairy tale will delight children and adults alike.

This hilarious tale featuring brand-new full-colour illustrations will be sure to thrill readers aged 6+.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I read another title from this series, The Ninjabread Man, earlier this year. I absolutely hated it. The writing was atrocious and the story was weak. I do like the idea of twisting fairy tales around, however, so I decided to give Little Rude Riding Hood a try. After all, it's by a different author, and I thought maybe the writing would be better.

Sadly, the writing is plagued by the exact same issues as The Ninjabread Man! Was it a requirement to use silent dialogue tags throughout these books? "Folded her arms", "waved", and "clapped her paws" are not acceptable replacements for the word "said". So, to be fair, I knocked off a writing point for each instance of impossible dialogue tags, just as I did for The Ninjabread Man. I didn't get into the negatives here, but the writing still only gets one star.

However, the story is more enjoyable, even if the heroine is completely insufferable. Little Rude is so awful that I was wishing that the wolf would eat her. (He, unfortunately, has been taking anger management classes, so the reader is forced to put up with Little Rude for far too long.) The climax is pretty funny, but I found the resolution a bit unbelievable. I don't think a child as awful as Little Rude would even be redeemable; she comes across as having a severe personality disorder for the majority of the book, and I doubt that one incident would suddenly change her into an angel.

The illustrations are fine, just as they were in The Ninjabread Man. They're done by the same illustrator, which is nice; it helps keep continuity throughout the series.

Overall, Little Rude Riding Hood is better than The Ninjabread Man, but I still can't really recommend it due to the grammar errors that seem to be mandatory for this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Arcturus Publishing for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 1/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.33 out of 5