A cunning wolf leads a guileless little girl astray with nearly fatal consequences in this luscious presentation of the familiar tale. Spirin's retelling tracks the 1812 Grimm version, in which the heroine in her crimson bonnet conveys a cake to her sick grandmother, encounters the wolf, discloses her grandmother's location and disobeys her mother's warning to stay on the path. Racing to grandmother's house, the wolf gobbles grandmother and waits for Red Riding Hood, who's amazed at grandmother's huge hands, ears, eyes and teeth—whereupon the disguised wolf swallows her. Rescued by two hunters, Red Riding Hood promises to stay on the path. Reminiscent of realistic 17th-century Dutch paintings, lavish watercolor-and-pencil illustrations portray Red Riding Hood as a rosy, fair-haired bourgeois girl and wolf as dashing cavalier resplendent in feathered hat, lace collar and silk pantaloons. Textural verisimilitude, dramatic close-ups and unusual perspectives provide frightening intimacy and intensity, particularly in the scenes where diminutive, clueless Red Riding Hood explores wolf's razor claws, furry ears, yellow eyes and enormous fangs. A classic tale tendered with class. (Picture book/fairy tale. 5-8)
