Little Red Riding Hood -Picture Book Workshop #2

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the second session of the 10-part Ahiru Picture Book Workshop at Nijino Picture Book Store in Tokyo.

(Refer to the first session in my previous blog).

The workshop focused on reading and critiquing each other’s 16-page versions of Little Red Riding Hood. It was fascinating to see how each participant approached this classic tale.

Here’s how I tackled the task:

First, I reviewed various versions of Little Red Riding Hood and noted key elements:

• The girl with the red hood
• Forest
• The wolf
• Disguise
• Grandma
• Gobbled up as a whole
• The moral: don’t stray from the path

As I read the story, a few questions stood out:

How could the girl mistake her grandma for a wolf?

What’s the significance of the red hood?

Why is the protagonist portrayed as pretty but helpless?

I wanted to create a version that felt fresh, but still recognizable. 

Since I’m Japanese, I thought setting the story in Japan would be an interesting twist.

I sketched, researched, and replaced elements with Japanese nuances. For example:

• The forest became a bamboo forest.
• Wine and sweets were swapped for daifuku (sweet sticky rice dumplings).
• The wolf was replaced with a tanuki—a mischievous, shape-shifting creature from Japanese folklore.

The tanuki is known for its ability to transform, which made it a much more fitting trickster than a wolf in a bonnet and glasses.

I also reimagined the protagonist, Azuki-chan (which sounds similar to the Japanese name for the Little Red Riding Hood which is “Aka zukin chan”, as kind, independent, and resourceful—not helpless.

After a lot of brainstorming, editing, sketching, and family feedback, here’s the 16-page version I came up with:

Azuki-chan and Daifuku

	“What big daifuku you’ve made, Azuki-chan!” said Azuki’s mother. “If you chew carefully, you’ll be fine. I’m going to deliver these freshly made daifuku to Grandma!” Azuki-chan replied, heading off into the bamboo forest.
	In the forest, a mischievous tanuki saw Azuki and her daifuku. “Ah, Azuki and daifuku! She must be visiting her grandma. Let’s make a plan!” The tanuki rushed off to Grandma’s house.
	The tanuki arrived, startled Grandma, and locked her in a closet. Then, it disguised itself as Grandma by placing a leaf on its head and waited.
	Knock, knock, knock. “Grandma, it’s Azuki! I brought some daifuku!” Azuki called. “Oh, daifuku—let me eat it quickly!” said the tanuki, now disguised as Grandma, and started eating. “Grandma, we’re at the front entrance. Let’s go inside, make some tea and enjoy the daifuku,” Azuki-chan suggested.
	As the greedy tanuki gobbled up daifuku, tanuki choked on the daifuku.
	“You need to chew more carefully, but don’t worry, I’ll help!” Azuki-chan said.  She hit the tanuki’s back, dislodging the food. The leaf on its head flew off, revealing its true form.
	“You’re not my grandma! You’re a tanuki!” Azuki-chan shouted, chasing the creature away.
	Azuki freed her grandma from the closet, and they shared the daifuku while sipping tea and chatting.

Feedback from the workshop was positive that it read well and received a praise for a bold choice of replacing the wolf with a tanuki. 

I’m thrilled with how the story turned out!

The next project is to double the page count to 32 in the next 2 weeks.

If you’re interested to know how my story evolved, please keep reading the blog post!