James Marshall
James Marshall is an illustrator and author of popular children books. ”Although he had no formal art training, Mr. Marshall illustrated more than 70 books. He also wrote many of them, sometimes using the pseudonym Edward Marshall. His work, featuring cartoonish figures and whimsical plots, appealed to parents as well as children” (Lambert www.newyorktimes.com). His book career started by chance. Friends encouraged him to pursue his longtime hobby of sketching, and he began doing newspaper illustrations and then books. Several early books were collaborations with Harry Allard as the writer. Three times hi books were listed among the best illustrated children’s books of the year by The New York Times Book Reviews.
Red Riding Hood by James Marshall is a retelling of the traditional folktale. The illustrations and text add humor to the suspenseful tale. This gently humorous retelling of the classic fairytale of Little Red Riding Hood combines the familiar Grimm Brothers tale with appealing engaging character. The characters’ personalities come alive through the boldly colored detailed cartoon style watercolor and black ink line illustrations. The simple text works well with the sprinkling of subtle humorous illustrations, like the empty box of after dinner mints next to the loud snoring wolf. Red Riding Hood encounters a wolf on the way to her grandmother’s house, and is later tricked into thinking the wolf is her grandmother. At the end Red Riding Hood proves she has learned a lesson about talking to strangers. This book would be most appealing to K-2nd grade students. This story could be used as a starting point to begin discussion about not talking to strangers. Students could also make predictions about what they think will happen when Red Riding Hood encounters another stranger on the last page.
Hazel and Gretel by James Marshall is about two