MAHOGANY

In this fairy-tale retelling, a Black, red-cloaked fashionista makes her way through the woods to her grandmother’s house.

Purple-curled Mahogany loves sewing and listening to music. As the book opens, Mahogany shows off the fruits of her labor: a gorgeous red patchwork cape. Momma asks her to take some honey cornbread to G-Ma but warns her to stay alert, and Mahogany sets out…with loud music from her smartphone blaring. As the distracted child stops to pick a bouquet of lavender, a sly wolf, who’s been lurking, introduces himself. Mahogany tells him she’s on her way to G-Ma’s. He asks about the cornbread, and a frightened Mahogany hands it over—before tossing her cape over his head and fleeing. The story generally stays true to the main plot points of the original story, with some clever changes that will satisfy modern sensibilities (no animals are harmed in this retelling). Mahogany eventually uses her wits and her sewing prowess to save the day, while it’s G-Ma who delivers well-known lines such as “What big eyes you’ve got.” This new version is still a morality tale about being aware of one’s surroundings and not talking to strangers, but with a fun, tech-y twist. Human characters present Black, and Brown-Wood gently folds an empowering message about brown skin into her text (“sunlight that kissed the melanin deep in [Mahogany’s] dark skin”). Joven’s cartoonish characters inhabit an enticing, beautifully textured world.

A hip adaptation of a beloved story.