Little Red Riding Hood Picture Book
The title is a bit misleading. This book features several stories and Little Red Riding Hood (inside the book, the fairy tale is titled Little Red Riding-Hood and the Wicked Wolf) is just the first one of four. Each of the stories is illustrated with six pictures in color, which was very rare around 1865 when the book was published. The illustrator was Harrison Weir (1824-1906), but other people, mostly workers at the printer, very likely collaborated. After all, in times of woodcuts as a leading method, an engraver's hand often counted even more than an illustrator's.
It was a hectic business with numerous unpredictable variables, so the pictures in wrong places of the stories were only minor problem. And yes, they were placed in wrong sequence, too. (No worries, we arranged them as they should be.)
Little Red Riding Hood and Wicked Wolf
We'll skip the summary because it's already presented as Charles Perrault's Red Riding Hood.
Here are only the illustrations:
You might notice something strange. The scene with a little girl and the beast in the bed is the last one. There is no hunter, no saving, no stones in the wolf's belly, and no celebration at the end. Yes, we are not talking about Grimms' version, today by far the most well-known Red Riding Hood (it's actually titled Little Red Cap), but Perrault's variation without a happy ending. The granny and the girl are eaten. Only a moral follows. A moral with a warning: Don't trust strangers, especially older men who charm young girls with sweet words.
The Three Bears
You very likely know this story under the title Goldilocks or Goldilocks and Three Bears. Well, older versions presented the girl as a disabled child, a prankster, and an intruder. If they wanted to focus on something positive, the bears, who were the victims, were an obvious choice. You can further explore the variations with these two examples: The Three Bears by Walter Crane and Denslow's Three Bears.
In this version, Goldilocks is named Silverlocks.
The bears are named as well:
- Great Papa is Rough Bruin,
- Midding-sized Bear is Mrs. Bruin or Mammy Muff,
- Little Funny Brown Bear is Tiny.
See? Already, more attention is paid to the bears than most of the modern versions you are probably familiar with. The plot is very much the same. Well, instead of porridge, there's rabbit soup on the table, waiting to cool down. Let's start with the girl's entry.
Silverlocks decided to taste the soup. There were three jars.
The first was Rough Bruin's Great Jar. Silverlocks tried the soup, but it was peppered and too hot.
Then she turned to Mammy Muff's Jar. It was too salted, and there was no bread in it, so Silverlock just tried it and left.
Master Tiny's soup, on the other hand, was just right to Silverlock's taste.
Then, she wanted to sit down. There were
- Very Large Oak Chair for the Great Bear,
- Middling-Sized Chair for Mrs. Bruin,
- Little Rush-Bottomed Chair for Master Tiny.
The first was too hard, the second too soft, and the third just right. Silverlocks sat in it, took the little blue jar with the soup, and emptied it.
Just when she finished it, the chair had broken. But Silverlocks didn't really care.
She became tired and wanted to lie down.
She went up to the bedroom, where she found:
- Large Bed for the Big Bear,
- Middling-Sized Bed for Mrs. Bruin,
- Nice Little Bed for Master Tiny.
The first one was too high at the top to lie comfortably. The second one was too high at the feet. The Little Bear's bed suited her perfectly, and she immediately started napping.
While she was dreaming, the Bears had returned.
"Who messed with my soup?" Noticed the Rough Bruin.
"Who messed with my soup?" Noticed the Mammy Muff.
"Who messed with my soup?" cried Master Tiny.
Then they found the big chair moved out of its place, the middle-sized chair out of its place, and the little chair broken!
The Bears were very angry.
They checked the bedroom, too.
"Somebody has rumpled my bed!" Noticed the Rough Bruin.
"Somebody has rumpled my bed!" Noticed the Mammy Muff.
"Somebody is in my bed!" cried Master Tiny.
His voice woke Silverlocks, who looked at the angry faces of the Bears. She jumped out of the bed and escaped through the open window.
Silverlocks never messed with other's stuff again!
***
Attention!
While the book supposedly contains four stories, we need to say the third one is not a story at all. The publisher obviously tried to fill the space and decided to include six impressions about animals with one-page long articles (one for each impression) and six illustrations. Such a mix of fiction and documentary was not a rarity in the early years of publishing when the editorial and aesthetic standards were not developed yet.
Let us enjoy the material anyway!
***
The Fox and the Rabbits
A fox tries to catch the rabbits. He is a patient and skilled hunter. Rabbits, on the other hand, are careful and only on excellent hearing. At the first sign of danger, they run into their hideouts.
A Giraffe Hunt
The home of the giraffe is Africa. A giraffe can eat leaves from the high trees thanks to its long neck. A giraffe is a gentle, timid animal that is hunted for food by different predators, including humans.
The Pine-Weasel and the Squirrels
A squirrel spends a lot of time collecting and storing nuts, the main source of nutrition for this cute rodent. A weasel, on the other hand, is a predator. It catches birds and also squares. Its relative ferret can be kept as a domestic animal to catch rats.
Dash and the Ducklings
Dash is a very playful dog. He is not cruel but responsible. One day, he finds a nest of ducklings and tries to play with them. The little birds escape to the pound, and he follows. They can swim, but he can't. He hardly gets out of water learning a lesson.
Wild and Tame Deer
A deer is a wild animal that withdraws on the first sign of a human. Some, however, can get used to human presence in parks and can become so accustomed they can take food from their hands. Still, a stag can get angry and attack a human, so don't challenge it.
The Wild Cat and Her Kittens
We are used to cats and kittens as domestic animals, but in the wild, wild cats still live. They look very similar but are much more aggressive and stronger. Cats who live near the woods can become wilder than fully domestic cats.
***
This is the end of six impressions about animals.
***
The Three Little Kittens
This nursery rhyme is one of the most popular ones for centuries. The text varieties a bit from book to book, so we'll present it in full. The illustrations by Harrison Weir should be interested to compare with The 3 Little Kitten pictured by Kate Greenaway,too.
Three little Kittens lost their mittens,
and they began to cry,
Oh! mother dear,
We sadly fear
That we have lost our mittens.
Lost your mittens!
You naughty Kittens!
Then you shall have no pie.
No, you shall have no pie.
The three little Kittens without their mittens
Ran screaming out so high,
Oh dear! oh dear!
Dinner-time's near,
And we mayn't have our pie.
We're naughty Kittens,
We've lost our mittens,
And we can't have our pie.
No, we mayn't have our pie.
The three little Kittens seek their mittens,
And o'er the garden hie.
Oh dear! oh dear!
They are not here!
And all sat down to cry.
Oh silly Kittens!
I know your mittens
Are in that rose-tree near
Yes, in that rose-tree near.
The three little Kittens found their mittens,
And they began to cry
Oh! mother dear,
See here, see here,
See, we have found our mittens.
Put on your mittens,
You silly Kittens,
And you may have some pie,
Yes, you may have some pie.
The three little Kittens put on their mittens,
And soon date up the pie;
Oh! mother dear,
We greatly fear
That we have soiled our mittens.
Soil'd your mittens,
You naughty Kittens!
Then they began to sigh.
Then they began to sigh.
The three Little Kittens washed their mittens,
And hung them out to dry;
Oh! mother dear,
Do not you hear
That we have washed our mittens?
Wash'd your mittens!
Oh! you're good Kittens.
But I smell a rat close by:
Hush! hush! Meow, meow.
We smell a rat close by.
***
This is the end of the fourth part of the book, which, as we could have seen, consisted of a fairy tale, a fable, a series of documentary impressions, and a nursery rhyme. Very interesting combination, isn't it?
The book was published by George Routledge and Sons in London and printed by Leightn Bros.