Author: Ed Young
Genre: Horror / Folktale / Fairy Tale / China
Year Published: 1989
Year Read: 2010
Publisher: Philomel Books
Source: Library
Content Rating: Ages 6+ (Some Scary Imagery and Scary Moments)
Buy on: Amazon // Book Depository
“Lon Po Po” is a Caldecott Medal winning book by Ed Young that is a remake of Brothers Grimm’s classic “Red Riding Hood,” only this time, there are three sisters who outwit a cunning wolf in this tale. “Lon Po Po” may be a bit too scary for smaller children because of the images, but older children will easily love this story that is full of mystery and suspense.
Ed Young has done a great job at writing and illustrating this old Chinese folktale about how three sisters outwit a cunning and frightening wolf. The writing is brief, as there is only one paragraph on each page, but it is dramatic and creepy enough to scare small children as the writing gets intense whenever the wolf seems to get closer to eating the girls after he stealthily disguises himself as the grandmother to get at the girls. Ed Young’s illustrations are brilliantly beautiful and haunting at the same time as he illustrates the wolf being terrifying and mysterious as the wolf seems to appear as some kind of mist on every page to imply that he is some sort of evil spirit.
Parents should know that there are some scary images in this book, mainly the images of the wolf himself as he is presented as some kind of mist mainly during the scenes where he enters the girls’ house and he is always in the shadows, where the audience cannot clearly see him. Parents might want to reassure their children about the dangers of letting in strangers in one’s house and they may want to read this book before they read it to their child to see if their child can handle the scary images presented in this book.
“Lon Po Po” is a great story for children who love Chinese folktales and love listening to stories that has a horror theme. I would recommend this book to children ages six and up since the images of the wolf looking mysterious and menacing might scare smaller children.
Ed Young has done a great job at writing and illustrating this old Chinese folktale about how three sisters outwit a cunning and frightening wolf. The writing is brief, as there is only one paragraph on each page, but it is dramatic and creepy enough to scare small children as the writing gets intense whenever the wolf seems to get closer to eating the girls after he stealthily disguises himself as the grandmother to get at the girls. Ed Young’s illustrations are brilliantly beautiful and haunting at the same time as he illustrates the wolf being terrifying and mysterious as the wolf seems to appear as some kind of mist on every page to imply that he is some sort of evil spirit.
Parents should know that there are some scary images in this book, mainly the images of the wolf himself as he is presented as some kind of mist mainly during the scenes where he enters the girls’ house and he is always in the shadows, where the audience cannot clearly see him. Parents might want to reassure their children about the dangers of letting in strangers in one’s house and they may want to read this book before they read it to their child to see if their child can handle the scary images presented in this book.
“Lon Po Po” is a great story for children who love Chinese folktales and love listening to stories that has a horror theme. I would recommend this book to children ages six and up since the images of the wolf looking mysterious and menacing might scare smaller children.
* 1990 Caldecott Medal
This sounds really good. I guess it is a children's book and I never mind reading a children's book. I was thinking and I know there are some out there that this would be a great concept for an adult book, like a thriller or horror book. Great review.
ReplyDeleteThanks Melissa! This book is really good!
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