Lon Po Po

Lon Po Po

By: Ed Young

Traditional or Folk Literature

Lon Po Po is a Chinese version of Red Riding Hood in which the mother of three children go off to visit their grandmother. Once she leaves, a cunning wolf tries to pretend to be their grandmother. The oldest daughter discovers that she is an imposter and devises a plan. The three children climb up a tree and convince the wolf to get in a basket tied to a rope so they can try to pull her up. However, they continually “accidentally” drop the basket until the wolf falls to its death. The next day the mother returns and they tell her the tale of the wolf.

I would use this book in the classroom by discussing how different cultures can come up with different versions of the same tale. I would read them the book and talk about how it differs from the traditional version of red riding hood. As a project they could work in groups to make their own version of red riding hood and then present their story to the rest of the class.