Baby Librarian Tilly reviews Pretty Salma by Niki Daly.
Tilly reviews Pretty Salma
I mostly liked this book. It’s about a little girl, Salma, who goes shopping for her granny and ends up giving away all her things to the big bad dog who then tricks her granny into thinking he’s Salma. Salma wears pretty things that are different to the things I see people wearing where I live. She wears a blue scarf on her head and a skirt called a ntama and she carries her shopping on her head! That’s funny. My mummy never carries our shopping on her head. The only thing I didn’t really like was the woof was the bad guy in this. I like woofs. But I guess I’m not supposed to like this one.
Jen reviews Pretty Salma
A different take on the Little Red Riding Hood story, set in west Africa. In this story, instead of a wolf dressing up as the granny and tricking Little Red Riding Hood, the bad dog dresses up as Salma and tricks the grandmother, as Tilly mentioned. This was an interesting spin, and I like how Salma ends up being the one to rescue her granny, and not a tall heroic man who saves the little girl. I also like the setting, and especially the illustrations depicting what markets are like in west Africa — it reminds me of Baby Goes to Market by Atinuke.
For another Little Red Riding Hood Retelling, check out Marian’s review of Lon Po Po.