Little Evie in the Wild Wood

K-Gr 2—A forest with the occasional whispered warning; a girl in red with a basket of treats; a wolf with great eyes, great ears, and sharp teeth-readers have an idea about how the story will unfold until Morris turns the fairy-tale tropes around. Differing from Red Riding Hood's heedlessness to caution, Evie is a child more attuned to nature and the world around her: "In patches of sunlight butterfly wings brushed her face…She could hear the/leaves as they touched the earth." Inside her basket are jam tarts that Grandma made for Evie to share with the wolf and share she does, along with a quiet moment in the woods before getting a ride home on the wolf's back. Thick, softened brush strokes of the painted illustrations support the story's communal atmosphere, and the yellow undertones make the woods less foreboding. Altogether a kinder, gentler take on a familiar story.—Joanna K. Fabicon,Los Angeles Public Library