Example Outline for Little Red Riding Hood From ThinkWritten.com • Summary: Little Red Riding Hood is on her way to Grandmother's House when she encounters a big mean bad wolf. • Characters • Little Red Riding Hood: Wears a red cape as a jacket. Likes picnics and long walks in the woods. • Little Red Riding Hood's Mother: Busy, has lots of kids and a baby to care for. • The Big Bad Wolf: Mean old wolf who likes to eat children walking through the forest. He tries to trick Little Red Riding Hood into being his dinner. • Grandmother: Little Red Riding Hood's Grandma. She is sick, and very old. Has a patchwork quilt on her bed. • The Woodsman: The hero of the story. He works in the woods cutting down trees for building houses. His job is to save Little Red Riding Hood from the wolf. • Setting & Scenes • Forest - Dark and Spooky in some spots, but also bright and cheerful in others with birds singing. • Grandmother's House: This is a small two room cottage. There is a stove and table in the front room and the back room is her bedroom. She has a large bed covered with a patchwork quilt. • Little Red Riding Hood's Home • Novel Outline • Chapter 1: Intro to Little Red Riding Hood • Little Red Riding Hood starts at her house. They live in a nice, modest house on the edge of the town. • Her mother gets a letter saying that Grandmother is very ill. Her mother is currently taking care of too many young kids, so she asks Little Red Riding Hood if she can go check on her. • Chapter 2: Intro to the Wolf • While Little Red Riding Hood prepares to visit Grandmother, the Wolf was sitting at the table in his house staring at an empty plate. • The wolf was very angry, he had not seen a decent child to eat in weeks! • The Wolf Has a very sophisticated "Kid to Eat" Alarm System that alerts him anytime a child is walking through the forest. A light will blink in his house anytime a child sets off the alarm. • It has mostly been false alarms lately. • Chapter 3: Preparing for the Trip • Little Red Riding Hood Packs up some things to take to her grandmother's house in a basket. • Some bread & jam • A handkerchief • Her mother warns her about the Big Bad Wolf. • Chapter 4: A Path Appears • Grandmother lives in the next town over, and the easiest way to get there is through the forest. • There is a path in the woods. It is mostly level and well-worn. • Little Red Riding Hood sets off on her adventure. She starts walking in the woods and it is quiet and peaceful. There are some birds singing. The sun shines through the leaves on the trees. • Chapter 5: The Wolf's High Tech Surveillance System • While Little Red Riding Hood was Walking, She Sets off the Alarm • The wolf thinks it is a false alarm like last time, but when he sees Little Red Riding Hood on his surveillance footage screen he gets very excited. • The Wolf Looks quickly through his "How to Catch Children for Dinner" playbook to decide the best plan of action. He flips through the pages and then says...Ah, yes, yes. He smiles. This will be perfect and he closes the book. • Chapter 6: The Wolf Approaches • While Little Red Riding Hood is walking through the forest, it suddenly gets very quiet. • The wolf appears. The wolf wants to eat Little Red Riding Hood. • The Wolf Approaches Little Red Riding Hood in the Forest. He tries to coerce her to go hunting for snipes with her. • Little Red Riding Hood was well aware of the dangers of the Big Bad Wolf however, so she politely declined. However, he persists. • {Transition with some suspense into the next chapter.} • Chapter 7: Tricks & Deception • The Wolf Plays on his bad reputation. • Come on now, I'm not as bad as everybody makes me out to be. In fact, I'm quite kind! Where are you headed? I'll show you a shortcut. • Little Red Riding Hood tells him she is going to visit her sick grandmother, but not to worry, she already knows the best way to go - in fact, she can even see the top of the chimney of the cottage from where they are. • The Wolf says, very well. Since your grandmother is sick, I'd hate to hold you up. • The Wolf, not wanting to completely ruin his chances of dinner, decides he will trick the girl once she reaches her destination. • Chapter 8: What the Duck? • Little Red Riding Hood goes back on her way of walking down the path, and the wolf rushes home to unleash his army of small robotic ducks. • With a push of the button, these robotic ducks will appear and distract a person in order to buy the wolf some time. • Little Red Riding Hood is walking when all of a sudden, she sees a line of very cute little baby yellow ducks walking across her path. • She looks around, but sees no sign of a mother duckling anywhere. Oh dear, she thinks, Have they lost their mother? • She ventures a little bit off the path to search for the mother duck, but is not able to find it. • She goes to pick up one of the ducks, but just as quickly as they appeared, they begin to run away. • Strange, thinks Little Red Riding Hood, but she remembers Grandmother is ill and waiting for her, so she goes on her way. • Chapter 9: The Wolf Meets Grandmother • This was just enough of a distraction to give the Wolf some time to get to Grandmother's house before she does. • The Wolf finds Grandma laying in bed, and he quickly ties her up and stuffs her in the closet. • He puts on one of her dresses and her hat and jumps in bed just as he hears Little Red Riding Hood knocking on the door. • Chapter 10: Little Red Riding Hood Arrives • Little Red Riding Hood comes in and comments how unusual Grandmother is looking. • Just then the wolf jumps up and is ready to eat her. • He chases Little Red Riding Hood, but she is fast! They go on quite the chase through the house, knocking over furniture and making a lot of noise. • Chapter 11: Rescued! • Just in the nick of time, the Woodsman comes running into the cottage because he heard all the noise. • The Woodsman chases off the wolf and goes to kill him. • Little Red Riding Hood starts to look for Grandmother - where did she go? She hears a muffled sound and opens the cupboard door to find the grandma. • Chapter 12: The End! • The Woodsman comes back to confirm the Big Bad Wolf is Dead, and tells Little Red Riding Hood not to worry anymore. • They help get Grandma get back in bed, clean up, and they all lived happily ever after. • Research & Notes • Things to Research • How do robotic ducks work? • How much time would it take for the woodsman to arrive at the cottage? • How far does sound travel through the woods? • Other Ideas: • Maybe we could introduce some supporting characters? • Or, could we perhaps add some dynamics to this story in some other way? • Hmmm....