Baby book review: Ninja Red Riding Hood by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Dan Santat

Baby librarian Tilly and her mum Jen review Ninja Red Riding Hood by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Dan Santat.

Tilly reviews Ninja Red Riding Hood

What a great book! This is a very good action story with some quite stressful bits. But that’s okay because I like being pretend-scared. There are three bits I like about this book. One, it rhymes. So it’s nice to listen to, and it’s a fun rhyme. Two, there are ninjas and fights and kicks and those are fun to read about and look at. My mummy and daddy like kicking and punching and they said when I turn four I get to learn how to do that too! And the third thing I like about this book is the ending. There’s yoga! I can do yoga. And I like it when I go to family yoga because Mummy and Daddy and Grandpa and Grandma and my two aunts and uncle all go into funny positions and I can climb them and crawl under them when they make a downward dog tunnel. So I like that there’s yoga in this book as well as fighting.

Jen reviews Ninja Red Riding Hood

In the past year and a bit of reading children’s books aloud, I have discovered that not all rhyming books are created equal. Yes, a lot of children’s books and books aimed at babies rhyme. But not all of them have the magical combination of rhyme, rhythm, cadence, and repetition that make reading aloud a sheer pleasure. Sometimes it just rhymes. This book does more than just rhyme! This is one of the great ones for reading aloud because it is a wonderful mix of fun characters, great rhyme and rhythm, gorgeous illustrations, AND a familiar story with a twist. It’s Little Red Riding Hood as I’ve never read it before and I love it. Can’t wait to read the other books by Corey Rosen Schwartz.