Charles Perrault - Little Red Riding Hood

Probably the most oldest written version therefore credit to Perrault for that, as this is the only version i can find where the plot seems disturbing and not full of hope and happiness and a bright ending. It shows children that making silly choices and trusting too openly can in fact, have its major problems, this particular version is my favourite as it holds the sense of history of the tale and is also a strong morality lesson.

Perrault's version is the one which i will be illustrating, I am going to include all of his type including the whimsical, entertaining and engaging end page, which is the moral. This reads:

Little girls, this seems to say,
Never stop upon your way.
Never trust a stranger-friend;
No one knows how it will end.
As you’re pretty, so be wise;
Wolves may lurk in every guise.
Handsome they may be, and kind,
Gay, or charming never mind!
Now, as then, ‘tis simple truth—
Sweetest tongue has sharpest tooth!

Absolutely brilliant, I wish I had come up with it. This sums up the whole point of the story and ties it all together in a really clever, playful way yet the message carried is actually strong and impacting.

Gustav Dore created the illustrations for Perraults version in the 1800's. Here are some of the images, I love the black and white and the creepy lonely darkness of the imagery.

the girl meets the wolf, sense of curiosity and inquisitiveness. Nice scale of characters.

This is the section of the book which baffles me the most and i understand the censorship issues which have come from this well, this is the part where the girl takes off all her clothes and climbs into bed with the wolf, very strange if you ask me, why did she take off all her clothes?

And roarrrrrrrr, she's dead.