With so many great children's books to choose, don't go for this one. The language is ponderous and changed from the language that makes the original great. If you can't get "All the better to see you with, my dear" into Little Red Riding Hood, you're not trying very hard. Several words and ideas are changed from the original for apparently no reason (the woodcutter is now a lumberjack and the grandmother a gran). And the story all finishes with a delicious cake for everyone. This is one of the few stories I would hide from my two-year old daughter so that I didn't have to read it to her - but it isn't necessary as she has no interest in it either. Avoid.