Week 3 ( Feb 11-15)

 This week was focused on Little Red Riding Hood, so I found an inspired story from Ghana, Africa, called Pretty Salma.


. In this story, Salma, who lives with her grandparent, is sent to go to the market for her grandmother with the specific instructions of going straight there and back, and especially not to talk to any strangers. As the story proceeds, the combination of the basket of goods and the sun beaming down on her, she decided to take a shortcut where she ran into Mr. Dog, who then begins to befriend Salma through showing interest in her song and insisting on helping her with her trip. This quickly reveals to be a trick to imitate Salma's look and when she requests her belongings back, Mr. Dog threatens to eat her if she disobeys his commands. When Mr. Dog finally allows her to leave, she runs to her grandfather to devise a plan on how to save her grandmother. Meanwhile, Mr. Dog had already reached Grandma, who had her suspicions that something was off about  this "Salma". Once her sucpisions were confimed, through the singing of her and Salma's favorite song, she became so frightened that she jumped in the pot. Before Mr. Dog could attempt to eat the grandmother, Salma and her grandfather rushed in with masks and scared Mr. Dog with their musical instruments.

I personally enjoy this version of LRRH because this version was more relatable to my childhood than the more popular versions. I remember being sent to the store for a number of goods, most which kids are not legally allowed to purchase, with the expectation of getting back home without any harm to me or her goods. It was relieving to have a version that doesn't portray the LRRH character, Salma, as being super naïve and instead shows how sometimes children can be easily manipulated by people. I feel like this is a more beneficial message to send to kids because they are more likely to run into someone who treats them nicely rather than someone who overtly shows their malicious intentions. Because of this, I believe that this cartoon is more of a social cartoon because it didn't have any implicit political messages being portrayed in it.



Daly, N. (2006). Pretty Salma: A Little Red Riding Hood Story From Africa. Francis Lincoln Children's.