Eight YA Retellings of Red Riding Hood

By Lilian Calix
May 15, 2015
Hamilton Grange Library

Little Red Riding is the story of a girl and a big bad wolf in the woods. The original story was written by Charles Perrault (1628-1703). Here are some recommendations of modern retellings of the classic Red Riding Hood tale:

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer is a story inspired by Little Red Riding Hood. The story features a girl named Scarlet Benoit and a street fighter named Wolf. Together Scarlet and Wolf join Cinder to try to fight the Lunar Queen.

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce is about Scarlett and Rosie March who were almost killed by werewolf. After their near death encounter the sisters become werewolf hunters…

Princess of the Silver Woodsby Jessica Day George Petunia is the youngest of the dancing princesses. After being attacked on her way to visit a neighbor she and her sisters get a chance at ending the family curse.

Red Riding Hood film "Valerie is a beautiful young woman torn between two men. She is in love with a brooding outsider, Peter, but her parents have arranged for her to marry the wealthy Henry. Unwilling to lose each other, Valerie and Peter are planning to run away together when they learn that Valerie's older sister has been killed by the werewolf that prowls the dark forest surrounding their village."

Crimson Bound(e-book) by Rosamund Hodge was inspired by Little Red Riding Hood and "Girl with No Hands" In Crimson Bound "Rachelle Brinon, who has been trained by her aunt to serve as a woodwife. It's her responsibility to protect the village from the dark magic of the forest. While venturing into the forest, Rachelle is eventually tricked by a humanlike wolf creature, to whom she becomes bound to it by a thin crimson thread that only she can see. The connection is filled with passion and also gives her superhuman skills with the possibility of immortality. Now one of the king's assassins, Rachelle has many responsibilities and soon realizes that there are just as many dangers and threats within the kingdom as they are without. Loyalties are stretched when she's assigned the job of protecting Prince Armand, and a romantic triangle develops among Rachelle, the prince, and the captain of the bloodbounds. Teens will gladly join this quest to find out if there's a happy ever after in this intricate web of friendship, fear, loyalty, love, and hate."

Cloaked in Red by Vivian Vande Velde presents eight versions of Little Red Riding Hood.

In the TV show Once Upon a TimeRed Riding Hood is a werewolf shapeshifter. Once Upon a Time Season 2 and Season 3 are also available.

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll is a graphic novel of "fairy tales gone seriously wrong, where you can travel to “Our Neighbor’s House”—though coming back might be a problem. Or find yourself a young bride in a house that holds a terrible secret in “A Lady’s Hands Are Cold.” You might try to figure out what is haunting “My Friend Janna,” or discover that your brother’s fiancée may not be what she seems in “The Nesting Place.” And of course you must revisit the horror of “His Face All Red.”