November 15, 2020
A directionally challenged child sets out for her grandmother's cottage with a basket of goodies but wanders into the wrong forest. Hardly has Little Red Hoodie embarked before she finds herself in a rather populous woodland inhabited not only by a menacing if skittish Wolf, but a motley array of other folktale (ish) characters. These include HoGTV home-improvement show hosts the Pig Brothers, flying monkeys, Coyote, Anansi, Rat�n Perez, and the whole Chicken Little crew. Several, notably Baby "Bobby" Bear from predecessor Goldilocks, Go Home! (2019), who serves as a snarky foil and narrates occasional chapters, tag along as Red and her growing entourage blunder into the evil queen's castle, escape its dungeon/laundry room with help from a certain oddly knowledgeable woodsman (who eventually admits to a secret royal identity), and send the aforementioned lupine bully packing for good by ganging up to display their "inner fierce." Sevilla supplies liberal quantities of cartoon headshots and group scenes, often with figures--the few human ones depicted with lightly toned skin but registering as White--delivering punchlines or side comments. Little Red never does get to her granny's house...which may be for the best, as she casually notes at the end that it's made entirely of gingerbread. Readers up on their folklore tropes and types will chortle over this sly, airy pastiche. (Fantasy. 7-10)
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