- Hello everyone.
My name is Mara the Storyteller.
And as you can see,
I am in the middle of a beautiful forest.
The perfect place to tell you the story
of Little Red Riding Hood.
Now, some of you might already know
that the reason she had that name,
is because everywhere she went,
she wore her little red hood.
And one day her mother said to her,
"Oh, sweetheart,
"could you take this basket of goodies
"over to your grandmother?
"She's not feeling very well today."
And of course,
Little Red Riding Hood loved her grandmother.
And she was a very kind person.
And so, she took the basket,
put on her hood,
and (mimics feet tapping) off she skipped
through the forest.
Every now and again, (Mara sniffs)
she stopped to inhale the delicious fragrance
of the flowers.
And sometimes,
she stopped to listen to the birds.
(Mara mimics birds chirping)
But it wasn't long before she came across
a strange character leaning against a tree trunk.
Now, you and I both know who that was.
It was the Big Bad Wolf.
And he said to Little Red Riding Hood,
"Where are you going little girl?"
And she said,
"Oh, I'm off to see my grandmother
"who lives on the other side of the forest."
Now the Wolf thought,
(wolf growling) "If I got there first,
"I could eat up grandma,
"and then I could have Little Red Riding Hood
"for dessert.
"What a plan."
And so, he said to Little Red Riding Hood,
"Well, why don't you take the shortcut?
"It's just that way."
And so, Little Red Riding Hood said,
"Thank you."
And (mimics feet tapping) off she skipped
through the forest.
And the Big Bad Wolf raced
towards grandma's house.
He knocked on the door.
"Come in."
He barged in and there she was,
looking very weak and hungry,
'cause she hadn't had her breakfast,
and she was all tucked up in bed.
And the Big Bad Wolf immediately went over,
grabbed hold of her,
and (chomps) gobbled her down.
And then he put on a little night cap,
he put on her dress.
Her glasses were by the side of the bed
and he put them on too.
And then he snuggled in,
pulling the blanket up over him.
And it wasn't long
before he heard,
(mimics knuckles rapping)
a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" he called.
Oh, her voice sounded a bit frail
and a bit odd and a bit deep,
but Little Red Riding Hood thought,
"Oh, she mustn't be well.
"It's me, Grandmother,
"Little Red Riding Hood."
"Come in." said the Wolf.
And so, she let herself in
and, (Mara gasps)
"Oh, Grandmother,
"what big eyes you have."
"All the better to see you with,
"my dear.
"Come closer."
"Oh, Grandmother." said Little Red Riding Hood.
"What big hairy hands you have."
"All the better to cuddle you with,
"my dear.
"Come closer."
"Oh, Grandmother,
"what sharp teeth you have."
"All the better
"to eat you with,
"my dear."
And he leapt out of the bed,
he grabbed hold of Little Red Riding Hood
and (chomps) down she went too.
And well,
the Wolf settled back into bed
and was soon fast asleep.
And Little Red Riding Hood,
she called out,
"Help!
"My grandmother and I are here,
"stuck in the Wolf's stomach."
But even though she could hear the woodcutter
very faintly whistling as he walked through the woods,
he couldn't hear her.
And grandmother looked so weak.
And so, she reached into her basket,
she took out some bread and jam
and she spread it together
and she handed it over to her grandmother
to give her extra strength.
And then she thought,
"I am gonna have to get out of here by myself."
And she saw that she had the knife in her hand,
and so, (Mara mimics stomach popping)
she chopped a hole
through the sleeping Wolf's stomach.
She pulled it apart,
she let herself through,
she pulled grandmother out.
Grandmother was feeling much stronger
after that nice jam bread sandwich.
And together, they sewed up the Wolf's stomach,
they each grabbed hold of his legs and arms,
and after three,
one, two, three,
they threw him out of the door
and they said,
"Never come back here again."
And well, the Wolf was feeling a little bit sore,
quite scared of what he had just gone through,
and he swore to himself
that he would never ever
go after Little Red Riding Hood again,
and off he sauntered into the woods,
feeling a little bit sorry for himself.
And Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother,
well, they had a delicious breakfast that day,
perfectly safe,
perhaps a little bit smelly,
but they would speak of that adventure
for many, many years to come.
Now, that is one story of Little Red Riding Hood,
and I'm sure you probably have heard a few variations.
That story is told all over the world.
Sometimes, it's not a wolf,
sometimes, it's a tiger.
Sometimes, it's not a Little Red Riding Hood,
sometimes, it's a little boy
who walks through the forest.
Perhaps you could make up your own version
of Little Red Riding Hood.
And if you do,
I would absolutely love to hear it.
See you soon.