Story Voice

Little Red Riding Hood Story

Little Red Riding Hood is a classic story from Grimms' Fairy Tales, for children aged 3–7. This page has the English story with a native English narration (about 3 min), plus the Chinese version with Mandarin narration (about 6 min). Free to read and listen, no sign-up.

On the way to her sick grandma's house, Little Red Riding Hood leaves the path, and a wolf gets there first. With native English narration, plus the Chinese version in Mandarin.

0:002:28

Tap any sentence in the story to start reading from there. It stops at the end.

Record about a minute of your voice, and every story here can be read to your child in it. Credits come back automatically if it fails.

Read Little Red Riding Hood

Once upon a time, a little girl lived near a big forest. Her grandma made her a little red hood, and she wore it every day. So everyone called her Little Red Riding Hood.

One morning, her mother said, "Grandma is sick in bed. Please take her this cake and this pot of honey. Stay on the path, and don't talk to strangers." "I will," said Little Red Riding Hood.

In the forest, she met a wolf. She did not know he was a bad wolf, so she was not afraid. "Where are you going?" asked the wolf. "To Grandma's house. She lives under the three big oak trees."

The wolf had a plan. "Look at all the pretty flowers!" he said. "Why not pick some for your grandma?" The flowers were red, yellow and blue. Little Red Riding Hood left the path to pick them, and she went farther and farther away.

The wolf ran to Grandma's house. He knocked on the door. "It's me, Little Red Riding Hood," he said in a small voice. "Come in," said Grandma. The wolf jumped in and swallowed Grandma whole. Then he put on her nightcap and got into her bed.

Soon Little Red Riding Hood came in. "Grandma, what big ears you have!" "All the better to hear you with." "Grandma, what big eyes you have!" "All the better to see you with." "Grandma, what a big mouth you have!" "All the better to eat you with!" And the wolf swallowed her too.

Then the wolf fell asleep and snored very loudly. A hunter was walking by. "That snore is too loud for Grandma," he thought. He went inside and saw the wolf. Snip, snip! He cut open the wolf's tummy, and out came Little Red Riding Hood and Grandma.

They filled the wolf's tummy with big stones. When the wolf woke up, he tried to run away, but the stones were too heavy. He fell down and never got up again.

Grandma ate the cake and the honey and felt much better. And Little Red Riding Hood said, "From now on, I will always stay on the path."

The Chinese version: 小红帽

从前，在一片大森林的边上，住着一个可爱的小姑娘。外婆最疼她，给她做了一顶红色的小帽子。小姑娘喜欢极了，天天戴着，大家就都叫她“小红帽”。

一天早上，妈妈对小红帽说：“外婆生病了，躺在床上起不来。你把这块蛋糕和这罐蜂蜜送过去，外婆吃了会好一些。”妈妈又叮嘱她：“路上要一直走大路，不要跑进树林里，也不要和不认识的人说话。”小红帽点点头：“妈妈放心，我记住了。”

外婆的家在森林的另一头，要走好一阵子。小红帽挎着小篮子刚走进森林，就碰见了一只大灰狼。她不知道狼有多坏，一点儿也不害怕。“早上好，小红帽，”狼笑眯眯地说，“这么早，你要去哪儿呀？”“我去看外婆，她生病了。”“你外婆住在哪儿呢？”“就在森林里，三棵大橡树下面的小木屋。”

狼心里打起了坏主意。它对小红帽说：“你看，这里的花开得多好看，鸟儿唱得多好听。你为什么不摘一束花送给外婆呢？”小红帽抬头一看，阳光从树叶缝里洒下来，到处都是五颜六色的小花。她想：外婆看到鲜花，一定会很高兴。于是她离开了大路，一朵一朵地摘起花来，越走越远。

狼却一溜烟跑到了外婆家。它敲敲门，捏着嗓子说：“外婆，我是小红帽，给您送蛋糕来了。”外婆躺在床上说：“门没锁，自己进来吧。”狼推门进去，一口就把外婆吞进了肚子里。接着，它穿上外婆的睡衣，戴上外婆的睡帽，钻进被窝，拉上了床帘。

小红帽摘了满满一大束花，这才想起外婆，赶紧往外婆家走。她发现门开着，心里有点奇怪。屋里静悄悄的。她走到床边，拉开床帘，只见“外婆”把帽子拉得低低的，样子怪怪的。

“外婆，你的耳朵怎么这么大？”“为了更清楚地听见你说话呀。”“外婆，你的眼睛怎么这么大？”“为了更清楚地看见你呀。”“外婆，你的手怎么这么大？”“为了更好地抱住你呀。”“外婆，你的嘴巴怎么大得这么吓人？”“为了一口把你吃掉！”话音刚落，狼从床上跳起来，把小红帽也吞了下去。

狼吃饱了，躺回床上，呼噜呼噜地睡着了，鼾声大得像打雷。正好有一位猎人从门口经过。他心想：“老太太怎么打这么响的呼噜？我进去看看她是不是不舒服。”猎人走进屋里，一眼就认出了床上的大灰狼。他想到外婆可能还在狼肚子里，就拿出剪刀，小心地剪开了狼的肚皮。

剪了两下，就看见了一顶红帽子。小红帽跳了出来，说：“哎呀，可把我吓坏了，狼肚子里好黑呀！”接着，外婆也慢慢地爬了出来。小红帽搬来几块大石头，塞进狼的肚子里。狼醒过来想逃跑，可是肚子里的石头太沉了，它刚迈开腿就摔倒在地上，再也起不来了。

外婆吃了蛋糕和蜂蜜，精神好多了。猎人高高兴兴地回家了。小红帽对自己说：“以后妈妈让我走大路，我就一直走大路，再也不一个人跑进树林里去了。”

Little Red Riding Hood Story: the moral of the story

Stay on the path you were told to take, and don't tell strangers where you are going or where you live. It is a gentle way to start talking with children about strangers and safety.

Chinese words in Little Red Riding Hood

Play the Chinese narration and listen for these words. The pinyin shows the tones.

  • 小红帽xiǎo hóng mào

    Little Red Riding Hood (little red hat)

  • 外婆wài pó

    grandma (mother's mother)

  • 森林sēn lín

    forest

  • 大灰狼dà huī láng

    the big bad wolf (big gray wolf)

  • 蜂蜜fēng mì

    honey

  • 耳朵ěr duo

    ear

  • 眼睛yǎn jing

    eye

  • 猎人liè rén

    hunter

Bedtime storytelling tips

  • Slow down for the "what big ears you have" lines and give the wolf a low, growly voice. Once your child knows the story, let them say Little Red Riding Hood's lines.
  • End on what Little Red Riding Hood will do next time, not on the wolf. Children settle down for sleep more easily that way.
  • If you are learning Chinese together, play the Chinese version and listen for 外婆 (wài pó, grandma) and 大灰狼 (dà huī láng, the big gray wolf).

Things to talk about afterwards

  • What did Mother tell Little Red Riding Hood before she left?
  • Why did Little Red Riding Hood leave the path?
  • If someone you don't know asks where you live, what would you do?

Read this story to your child in your own voice

  1. Record your voice and confirm it's really you
  2. Pick any story, in English or Chinese
  3. A few minutes later, hear it in your voice; you can also download the MP3

From about $1.05 a story, or $1.99 for a first-order taster. Reading and listening are always free, and failed generations are refunded.

Read it in my voiceSee pricing

Little Red Riding Hood Story: common questions

What is the moral of Little Red Riding Hood?
Stay on the path you were told to take, and don't trust strangers or tell them where you are going. At the end of our retelling, Little Red Riding Hood promises to always stay on the path.
Who wrote Little Red Riding Hood?
It is an old folk tale. The best-known version was published by the Brothers Grimm in 1812 as no. 26 of their Children's and Household Tales. Charles Perrault published an earlier French version in 1697, which has no hunter and ends when the wolf eats the girl.
How does Little Red Riding Hood end?
In the Grimm version, which we follow, the wolf swallows Grandma and Little Red Riding Hood and falls asleep. A hunter hears him snoring, cuts open his tummy, and both come out safe. They fill the wolf with stones, and when he wakes up he falls down and never gets up again.
Is Little Red Riding Hood suitable for young children?
Our retelling is written for ages 3–7. The wolf still swallows Grandma and the girl, but the hunter rescues them and there are no gory details. If your child gets scared, spend more time on the happy ending.
Does the wolf say "What big teeth you have" in Little Red Riding Hood?
Many English versions use that line. We follow the Grimm version, where the last question is about the wolf's big mouth: "All the better to eat you with!"

Source and how we retold it

From the Brothers Grimm, Children's and Household Tales (Kinder- und Hausmärchen), no. 26, Rotkäppchen (Little Red Cap), first published in 1812 and now in the public domain. An earlier French version by Charles Perrault appeared in his Mother Goose tales of 1697; it has no hunter and ends when the wolf eats the girl. Our retelling follows the Grimm plot. In Grimm, her mother sends cake and wine; here it is cake and honey. We kept the hunter's rescue and left out the gory details.

The narration on this page is AI-generated: the English is read by 英伦绅士 and the Chinese by 温柔妈妈. The audio files are labeled as AI-generated.

If you liked Little Red Riding Hood Story, there are more stories in Grimms' Fairy Tales. You can also read this one to your child in your own voice.

More Grimms' Fairy Tales