Little Red Riding Hood

Told in English, Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Spanish, French, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese.

Come sit close, my darling, and let me tell you a story that teaches us to always be careful, even when a stranger seems friendly. There once was a sweet little girl who always wore a red cloak with a hood, so everyone called her Little Red Riding Hood. One morning, her mother asked her to carry a basket of bread and fruit through the forest to her grandmother, who was feeling unwell. 'Stay on the path, my dear, and don't talk to strangers,' her mother said gently.

But in the forest, a sly wolf approached her, speaking in the sweetest voice he could manage. 'Where are you going, little one?' he asked. Trusting his gentle words, she told him all about her grandmother's cottage. Oh, my dear, that clever wolf raced ahead on a shortcut, reaching the cottage first!

He gobbled up the poor grandmother and, can you imagine, put on her nightgown and cap, climbing into her bed to wait, disguised as her. When Little Red Riding Hood arrived, something felt strange. 'Grandmother, what big eyes you have!' she said. 'All the better to see you with,' the wolf replied in a strange, gruff voice. 'What big ears you have!' 'All the better to hear you with!' 'What big teeth you have!' 'All the better to EAT you with!' the wolf roared, leaping out of the bed!

Little Red Riding Hood screamed so loudly that a woodcutter working nearby heard her cries and came rushing in with his axe. He chased the wolf away before any real harm was done, and to everyone's great relief, Grandmother was found safe inside, having been quickly swallowed whole and just as quickly freed! From that day forward, Little Red Riding Hood always remembered her mother's wise words — and never, ever spoke to strangers in the woods again.