There was once a little girl who lived with her mother by the side of a large wood. She was always good and polite and she always finished her homework on time. She also had a grandmother who lived deep in the wood. Her grandmother, one day, gave the girl a riding cape. It was red and made of velvet and it looked lovely. The girl tried it on and loved it so much – that she wore it every day! So everyone started to call her Little Red Riding Hood.
One sunny morning, her mother gave her a basket with some bread and cakes to take to her grandmother who wasn’t feeling well.
“Stay on the path, Little Red, don’t wander off it and don’t talk to strangers” she said.
So Little Red started her journey into the woods. She stayed on the path and hummed to herself as she went along, swinging the basket beside her. As she went deeper and deeper into the wood, it became darker and darker, as the sun couldn’t get through the tall trees.
All of a sudden, as she turned a corner, a wolf emerged from behind a tree! She stopped and stared at his big eyes, his big ears and of course his big mouth which was stretched into a grin.
“Good morning, little girl” he said.
He seemed nice and polite.
“Good morning, wolf” she replied.
“Where are you off to?,” he asked.
“To my grandmother’s house. I’m taking her some bread and cakes because she’s not well.”
The wolf licked his lips. She looked so delicious – like a giant strawberry pavlova! He wanted to pounce and eat her straight away…. But he decided not to. Why just have one meal, when he could wait a bit and have two? Somewhere further along this path lived her grandmother. He could have Granny for lunch and Little Red for dessert.
“I’m sorry to hear she is not well. Why don’t you stop here for a bit and pick some of the lovely flowers.”
Little Red thought this was a wonderful idea. She put down her basket and left the path in the direction of the flowers.
“Perfect,” murmured the wolf; his grin becoming a scowl. And he leapt off in the direction of the grandmother’s house.
“Who’s there?”
“It’s me, granny – I’ve brought you some bread and cakes.”
“O, Little Red! Come in, dear.”
The wolf, gently nudged the door open. He could see the poor old woman lying in bed. He snuck up to her and……gulp swallowed her in one piece!
“Delicious! She could have done with a bit more salt, though.”
But he didn’t waste time. He quickly put on the grandmother’s nightie and night cap and he jumped into bed to await his strawberry pavlova!
Meanwhile, Little Red was running towards the house. She had promised her mother that she wouldn’t leave the path and she had! Now she was really late for Grandmother.
“Who’s there?”
“It’s me grandmother. I’ve bought you some bread and cakes.”
“O, Little Red! Come in, dear.”
Little Red gently pushed the door open and looked over at her poor grandmother lying in bed.
She ran over to hug her, but stopped next to the bed. Her grandmother didn’t look very well at all and she had her night cap pulled right over her face.
“Oh, Grandmother, what big eyes you have!”
“All the better to see you with, my dear.”
“Oh Grandmother, what big ears you have!”
“All the better to hear you with, my dear.”
“Oh but Granny, what a scary big mouth you have!”
“All the better to eat you with!”
And with that, the wolf jumped up, grabbed the poor little girl and swallowed her in one gulp!
“Delicious!” said the wolf.
And he lay down on the bed, as his tummy was so big he could barely move. What a greedy wolf!
He was so exhausted from all that eating that he fell fast asleep, and began to snore very loudly!
Deeper in the forest, a woodcutter had finished his work for the day and was walking home for
his tea. As he passed near the house, he could hear very loud snoring! He had never heard the old
lady snoring before and so he thought he should check on her.
There was no reply, so he pushed the door open and walked over to the bed. The grandmother
looked very fat indeed and she didn’t look at all well!
Then one of the snores blew off the night cap that was hiding his face, and the woodcutter saw
that it wasn’t the grandmother at all! It was a wolf!
He realised that the wolf must have tricked her and eaten her whole. So he took his axe and cut
open the wolf’s tummy. There inside was a worried Grandmother and a frightened Little Red
Riding Hood. They both crawled out of the tummy and hugged each other.
They decided to teach the wretched wolf a lesson. So they filled his tummy up with stones and
rocks, sewed it back together, then put him outside. Now the wolf’s tummy would always be full
and he couldn’t be greedy again!
Then they all sat down to have some tea with bread and cakes.