There's a Wolf at the Door

I am always looking for new alternate fairy tales and I came across There's a Wolf at the Door while searching for another title.

This story includes five chapters of an ongoing graphic novel story. Each story is told from the wolf's perspective about hunting for food and his feelings about the characters he meets. There are no breaks in the stories, each continues where the last left off. The stories begin with The Three Little Pigs, continue with The Boy Who Cried Wolf, move on to Little Red Riding Hood, falls into the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, and finishes with the Wolf and Seven Little Goslings.

This is not an apologist story. The wolf is honest about his intent to eat the other characters. However, he does have some interesting stories to tell about the other characters. My favorite is his story about how the vain Red Riding Hood becomes more thoughtful after her encounter with him. One of my favorite moments was the sheep rescuing the boy in The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

This is another great addition to my list of alternate fairy tales.

Pretty Salma A Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africa

Pretty Salma: A Little Red Riding Hood Story from Africais a West African Red Riding Hood tale taken from Ghana.

In this tale, Salma is sent to the market with a list of items to buy for her Granny. She is given the traditional cautionary comment not to talk to strangers. As she travels, she sings a song, which will prove to be very important later in the story. On her arrival at the market, all goes well and she picks up the items her Granny requested.

The basket on her head grew heavy as the day shortened and she decides to take a short cut home through the "wild side" of town. There she meets Mr. Dog who offers to carry her basket home for her. As the journey continues, he acquires more of her outfit all in the name of helping to lighten her load. Eventually he has a costume he hopes will fool her Granny. As they arrive closer to her home she begins to ask for her items back, but the dog threatens her. Eventually he chases her off and unlike most versions of Red Riding Hood; we discover there is a grandfather in this story.

Salma runs to her grandfather and together they devise a plan to save grandmother from the dog. While Grandmother is curious about many of the dog’s features, she knows her granddaughter will be able to sing the song Salma was singing earlier in the story. While the dog tried he was not able to sing her song. When he tried to learn her song, he was only able to bark. Unfortunately, Grandma does not realize her mistake soon enough. Mr. Dog traps her in her own cooking pot. Thankfully, Grandpa and Salma arrive in time to save her and they are able to enjoy the wonderful things Salma picked up at the market.