Little Red Gliding Hood (Tara Lazar, author. Troy Cummings, illustrator. Random House, 2015).

Clever, funny and visually stimulating. These are the words that come to mind after my delightful first read of Little Red Gliding Hood (which was followed by another two back-to-back reads so that I could pick up on and enjoy all of its nuances). Little Red Gliding Hood’s quest to win the pairs skating competition with the only available partner that she can find – the Big Bad Wolf, is told with the humorous help of numerous characters and phrases from nursery rhymes and fairy tales. The illustrations add a layer of colourful interest and inside jokes for those who take a moment to study them. I especially like the page with the hare skating circles around the tortoise and Jack Sprat being held in an ice dance-style lift by his wife. This picture book scores a 10 out of 10 from this judge.