Aaron Frisch (1975–2013)

This is a sweet little book that follows the life of a small lone standing pine tree as the weather and environment around it changed. The aminals that came around changed depending on the time of year as well as the sights around the little tree. I loved that this book was set in the point of view of a tree and addressed the environmental changes around it. Some really cool projects could come from the book, like having students write from the vantage point of things like trees, mountains, birds, etc. I also appreciate the factual accuracy of the book and the environmental changes it shows.… (mer)

The Girl in Red is a mature take on the classic fairy tale of "Little Red Riding Hood". Sophia lives in the "forest". The forest has "very few trunks and leaves". Instead it is mostly comprised of concrete and bricks. Sophia's mother tells Sophia to visit her grandmother on the other side of the city. Along the way she meets shady people who try to trick her from visiting her grandmother. A hunter drives Sophia away claiming that he know a shortcut but in reality is just delaying her arrival so that his accomplice can murder her grandmother. However the narrator says that stories do not have to have only one ending, and changes it so that the hunter and his gang get arrested. Sophia ends up being reunited with her grandmother. There were instances of metaphors at the beginning of the story by comparing the city to the forest of the original story. I thought that was creative however the reason why I have it such an average review is because it is simply not for children. Perhaps it could be more applicable towards higher grade levels but the unstructured plot, obscure interpretations, and the overall nature of the rough inner city life is not appropriate for young children.… (mer)

"The Girl in Red" is an interesting twist on the classic Red Riding Hood story. It still focuses on a girl in red, Sophia, and her journey to her grandmother's house across the forest, in this case a city similar to New York. Sophia always keeps her mother's words in mind, but does get picked up by a "wolf," in this case a man on a motorcycle who may or may not have murdered Sophia and her grandmother in the end. This book is a valiant effort to modernize a beloved tale, but it is told in a rather odd fashion. It lacks emotion, and it becomes an extremely dark story. I would probably never use it in a classroom, as the realistic aspects of the story would make the outcome even more terrifying for children. The only possible use in a classroom I could think of for this book would be to use the illustrations to juxtapose the original story and a modern rendition.
Media: gouache or acrylics… (mer)