It's Not about the Hunter! Read online

  Text copyright © 2010 by Veronika Martenova Charles

  Illustrations copyright © 2010 by David Parkins

  Published in Canada by Tundra Books,

  75 Sherbourne Street, Toronto, Ontario M5A 2P9

  Published in the United States by Tundra Books of Northern New York,

  P.O. Box 1030, Plattsburgh, New York 12901

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2009938444

  All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher–or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency–is an infringement of the copyright law.

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Charles, Veronika Martenova

  It’s not about the hunter! / Veronika Martenova

  Charles; illustrated by David Parkins.

  (Easy-to-read wonder tales)

  eISBN: 978-1-77049-217-2

  1. Fairy tales. 2. Children’s stories, Canadian (English). I. Parkins, David II. Title. III. Series: Charles, Veronika Martenova. Easy-to-read wonder tales.

  PS8555.H4224218775 2010 jC813′.54 C2009-905859-6

  We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) and that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative. We further acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program.

  v3.1

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Halloween Costume Part 1 Little Red Hood

  (Red Riding Hood from France)

  False Grandmother

  (Red Riding Hood from Italy)

  Grandmother Wolf

  (Red Riding Hood from China)

  Halloween Costume Part 2

  About the Stories

  HALLOWEEN COSTUME PART 1

  “It’s Halloween next week,”

  said Jake.

  “I’m going to dress like a robot.

  What are you going to wear?”

  Jake asked Ben and Lily.

  “I have a Dracula costume.

  It comes with huge teeth

  with bloody paint,” said Ben.

  Lily said, “I’m going as

  Little Red Riding Hood.”

  “Bad idea,” said Ben.

  “Why?” asked Lily.

  “You’ll get eaten by the wolf,” said Ben, “like in the story.

  You’ll need a hunter to save you.”

  “Huh? What hunter?”

  asked Lily.

  “That’s not how the story goes.

  Little Red Riding Hood

  is saved by her magic red cape,”

  she explained.

  “You’re thinking of Superman.

  He wears a magic red cape,”

  said Jake.

  “But Superman’s cape

  doesn’t have a hood.

  That’s different,” said Lily.

  “It’s the hood that saves

  Little Red Riding Hood.”

  “How?” asked Jake and Ben.

  “Let me tell you how,” said Lily.

  LITTLE RED HOOD

  (Red Riding Hood from France)

  There was once a girl named Adele.

  People called her Little Red Hood

  because she always wore a red cape

  that her grandma gave her.

  “I made this with rays of sun,”

  Grandmother told Adele.

  “It will keep you safe.”

  One Sunday, Adele’s mother said,

  “Take this cake to your grandma.

  See how she is and then come back.

  Don’t talk to strangers on the way!”

  Adele promised, and off she went.

  Grandmother’s village was on

  the other side of the woods.

  The day was hot and the shade

  under the trees was cool.

  Adele sat down and fell asleep.

  She dreamed someone was calling.

  She awoke, and there,

  standing close and watching her,

  was a wolf.

  At first Adele was frightened,

  and she could hardly breathe.

  But then the wolf smiled.

  “Good afternoon, my dear,”

  the wolf said.

  “I hope you had a nice nap.

  What are you doing here?”

  “I’m on my way to Grandma’s,”

  Adele told him.

  “I see,” said the wolf.

  “Where does your grandma live?”

  he asked.

  “She lives in the first house

  in the village on the other side

  of the woods,” Adele told him.

  “Well,” said the wolf,

  “I can tell you a much shorter way

  to get there.” But he told her

  a way that was much longer.

  Adele thanked him

  and went the way he said.

  Then the wolf ran

  straight to Grandma’s house.

  He pushed the door open,

  but there was no one was inside.

  Grandma had risen early

  to sell fruit at the market.

  The wolf closed the curtains,

  put on Grandma’s clothes,

  and lay down in her bed.

  At last, Adele arrived at the door.

  Knock, knock!

  “Who’s there?” asked the wolf.

  “It’s me, Grandma! Adele.”

  “Come in, the door is open,”

  said the wolf.

  “I’m in bed. I’m not feeling well.”

  Adele came in

  and put the cake on the table.

  Then, she sat down by the bed.

  Adele looked at her Grandma.

  “What very bright eyes you have!”

  she said.

  And the wolf said,

  “All the better to see you with,

  my dear.”

  Adele looked again.

  “Oh, what hairy ears you have!”

  “All the better to hear you with,

  my dear,” the wolf replied.

  “Oh, my, Grandma!” cried Adele.

  “What huge teeth you have!”

  “All the better to eat you with,

  my dear!” And with that, the wolf

  opened his jaws to swallow her.

  Adele ducked her head, and the wolf

  only caught her red hood.

  “Ow-ooo!” the wolf howled.

  The hood was burning hot like the blazing sun.

  The wolf jumped out of bed in pain.

  Just then, Grandmother returned from the market.

  She opened her big, empty sack

  and caught the wolf inside.

  Then she tied the sack

  and threw it down the deep well

  by the house.

  And that was the end of him.

  “Well!” Grandma said to Adele,

  “It’s good you wore your red cape.”

  She shared the cake with Adele,

  and then she took her home.

  And Adele promised never to talk

  to a stranger again.

  “I know a different story

  about a big bad wolf who pretends

  to be a grandmother,”

/>   Jake told Ben and Lily.

  “The girl in my story

  doesn’t get eaten, either.…

  She gets away

  because she tricks the wolf.”

  “How does she do that?”

  asked Ben.

  “I’ll tell you,” said Jake.

  FALSE GRANDMOTHER

  (Red Riding Hood from Italy)

  “Please take this bread and milk

  to your grandmother.

  I hear she’s not feeling well.”

  said Mother to Anouk.

  “I packed some ring-shaped cakes

  for you to eat along the way.”

  Anouk set off.

  She came to a river.

  “River, will you let me pass?”

  she asked.

  “If you give me your

  ring-shaped cakes to play with,

  I will,” the river answered.

  Anouk tossed them into the water,

  and the river let her pass.

  Anouk came to the crossroads.

  There she met a wolf.

  “Where are you going?”

  the wolf asked.

  “I’m taking food to my grandma.

  She is ill,” said Anouk.

  “How will you get into the house

  if your grandma is sick in bed?”

  asked the wolf.

  “Oh, that’s easy. I’ll stand

  on the stone, pull the string,

  and the door will open.”

  “What road are you taking?

  The Needles or the Pins Road?”

  asked the wolf.

  “The Needles Road,” Anouk said.

  Then I will take the Pins Road,

  thought the wolf, and he ran to

  Anouk’s grandma’s house.

  When he got there,

  he stood up and pulled the string

  with his teeth.

  The door opened, the wolf went in,

  and gobbled up Anouk’s grandma.

  He put on Grandma’s nightie,

  got in bed, and waited for Anouk.

  He was planning to eat her next.

  Soon the door opened.

  “Hello, Grandma,” said Anouk.

  “I brought you bread and milk.

  What can I help you with?”

  “I’m cold,” said the wolf.

  “Come here with me

  and warm me up.”

  Anouk climbed onto the bed

  beside her Grandmother.

  She saw Grandma’s hands.

  “Oh, Grandmother, those long

  fingers you have!”

  “Good for holding you, my child.”

  “Oh, Grandmother,

  those big ears you have!”

  “Good to hear you with,

  my child!”

  “Oh, Grandmother,

  that big mouth you have!”

  “Good to eat you with,

  my child!”

  “Oh, Grandmother,

  I have to go to the toilet!”

  “All right, but don’t be long,”

  said the wolf. He tied a string

  around Anouk’s foot

  and let her go.

  Outside, Anouk untied the string,

  wrapped it around a bucket,

  and ran home.

  “Are you finished yet?”

  called out the wolf.

  When Anouk didn’t answer,

  the wolf pulled on the string.

  Only the bucket rolled inside.

  The wolf jumped out of bed

  and ran after Anouk.

  Anouk ran fast,

  and soon she reached the river.

  “River, will you let me pass?”

  she asked.

  And the river answered,

  “Of course, I’ll let you pass.

  You gave me your cakes.”

  The river parted its waters,

  and Anouk ran to the other side.

  When the wolf came to the river,

  he jumped in to swim across

  but was swept away by the waters.

  From the riverbank,

  Anouk thanked the river.

  When she arrived home,

  she told her mother everything.

  “That reminds me of a story

  I heard about a boy and a wolf,”

  said Ben.

  “But this wolf doesn’t go to

  a grandmother’s house.

  He comes to the boy’s house

  and pretends to be the boy’s

  grandmother.

  “How does he get inside?”

  asked Lily.

  “I’ll tell you the story,” said Ben.

  GRANDMOTHER WOLF

  (Red Riding Hood from China)

  “I must go to see your grandma,”

  said Chen’s mother.

  “I will be back tomorrow.

  Remember to lock the door,

  and don’t open it for anyone.”

  A wolf lived nearby,

  and he saw the mother leave.

  That evening he came to the house

  and knocked on the door.

  “Who’s there?” asked Chen.

  “My dear, this is your grandma,”

  said the wolf.

  “But Mother has gone to see you!”

  said Chen.

  “She has?” the wolf acted surprised.

  “I did not see her on the way.

  Let me in, now.”

  But Chen said, “Grandma,

  why is your voice so low?”

  “I have a cold, my child,”

  replied the wolf.

  “It’s windy out here. Let me in.”

  Chen lit a candle so he could see.

  He opened the door and instantly,

  the wolf blew out the light.

  “Why did you do that?” asked Chen.

  “Now it’s dark in here.”

  The wolf didn’t answer,

  but he climbed into the bed.

  “Your grandma is so tired.

  Come and rest with me.”

  Chen climbed into the bed,

  and as he stretched

  he touched the wolf’s tail.

  “Grandma, why does your foot

  have a brush on it?” Chen asked.

  “I wrapped some strings around it

  to weave a basket for you,”

  the wolf answered.

  Chen touched the wolf’s claws.

  “Grandma, why are your nails

  so sharp?” he asked.

  “I fell on the road, and thorns

  stuck in my hands,” the wolf said.