Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived in a village near the forest.  Whenever she went out she wore a red riding cloak with a hood and that is why everyone called her Little Red Riding Hood.

One day her mother baked some cakes and when they were ready she said to Little Red Riding Hood, “My dear, would you go to see your grandmother and take her these cakes that I have made”. Little Red Riding Hood was always happy to see her Grandmother and agreed to go on the journey.

When the basket was packed, the little girl put on her red cloak and kissed her mother goodbye.

“Now go straight to your Grandmother’s cottage,” her mother said.  “Don’t waste time along the way and please don’t talk to strangers!  Remember, the woods are dangerous.”

“Don’t worry, mummy,” said Little Red Riding Hood, “I’ll be very careful.” So off she went on her journey to visit her grandmother in the forest.

Along the way Little Red Riding Hood noticed some lovely flowers in the woods and instantly forgot her promise to her mother not to waste time.  She stopped to pick a few of the beautiful flowers, watched the colourful butterflies fly about for a while and listened to the frogs croaking by a pond.

Little Red Riding Hood was enjoying the warm summer day so much, that she didn’t notice a dark shadow approaching her out of the forest.

Suddenly a wolf appeared beside her. “What are you doing here, little girl?” the wolf asked in a voice as friendly as he could muster. “I’m on my way to see my Grandmother who lives in the forest,” Little Red Riding Hood replied.

The wolf looked at her with a big smile on his face. He wanted to gobble her up there and then but noticed a woodcutter working in the distance. Suddenly he had an idea.

“And where does your Grandmother live?” asked the wolf. “Through the forest, over the bridge and past the lake” replied Little Red Riding Hood. “Does she!”

“I know a game we can play”, “What is it?” asked Little Red Riding Hood. “Lets race to your Grandmother’s cottage and the first one there is the winner”. “Okay”, replied Little Red Riding Hood and off she ran as fast as she could.

The wolf licked his lips as Little Red Riding hood ran away. After she had disappeared into the distance the wolf started to run in a different direction.

He ran and he ran until he was out of breath from running. Then finally he arrived at Grandmother’s cottage and knocked on the door.

“Little Red Riding Hood, is that you?” shouted Grandmother from inside the cottage. The wolf put on his best little girls voice as he replied, “Yes, it’s me Grandmother”.

“Oh thank goodness dear!  Come in, come in!  I was worried sick that something had happened to you in the forest,” said Grandmother thinking that her granddaughter was outside.

The wolf let himself in.  Poor Grandmother did not have time to say another word before the wolf jumped on her bed and gobbled her up in one go!

The wolf let out a satisfied burp, and then looked through Grandmother’s wardrobe to find a nightgown that he liked.  He added a frilly sleeping cap, and for good measure, dabbed some of Grandmother’s perfume behind his pointy ears.

A few minutes later Little Red Riding Hood knocked on the door.  The wolf pulled the covers over his big nose and called out in a crackly voice,  “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Little Red Riding Hood.”

“Oh how lovely!  Do come in my dear,” croaked the wolf.

When Little Red Riding Hood entered the cottage, she could scarcely recognise her Grandmother.

“Grandmother!  Your voice sounds so odd, is something the matter?” she asked.

“Oh, I just have bit of a cold,” squeaked the wolf adding a cough at the end to prove the point.

“But Grandmother!  What big ears you have,” said Little Red Riding Hood as she edged closer to the bed. “All the better to hear you with, my dear,” replied the wolf.

“But Grandmother!  What big eyes you have,” said Little Red Riding Hood. “All the better to see you with, my dear,” replied the wolf.

“But Grandmother!  What big teeth you have,” said Little Red Riding Hood her voice quivering slightly. “All the better to eat you with, my dear,” roared the wolf as he leapt out of bed and began to chase the little girl.

Almost too late, Little Red Riding Hood realized that the person in bed was not her Grandmother at all but was in fact the big bad hungry wolf!

She ran across the room and out through the door, shouting, “Help!  Wolf!” as loudly as she could.

A woodsman who was chopping logs nearby heard her cry and ran quickly towards the cottage.

He grabbed the wolf, turned him upside down and made him spit out poor Grandmother, who was a bit shaken by the whole experience, but thankfully still in one piece.

“Oh Grandmother, I was so scared!”  sobbed Little Red Riding Hood, “I’ll never speak to strangers or wait around in the forest again.”

“There, there, child.  You’ve learned an important lesson“ said her grandmother. “Thank goodness you shouted loud enough for this kind woodsman to hear you!”

The Woodsman picked up the wolf and carried him deep into the forest so that he could never bother anyone ever again.

Little Red Riding Hood and her Grandmother then sat in the garden and had a nice lunch, followed by the cakes that her mother had made for them.

The end