American Notes CALIFORNIA

With a wolf that eats a grandmother and a little girl who gets into mortal trouble by talking with a stranger, the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood reeks of violence and veiled sexual terrors. But when a version of the story by Trina Schart Hyman reached Culver City, Calif., last fall, school officials thought they sniffed something really troubling: an implied endorsement of alcohol.

In Hyman's rendering, republished by Houghton-Mifflin in 1989, the items that Red Riding Hood carries to her grandmother include wine that, the text says, would "do her a world of good." Worse, once Grandma drinks some, she not only feels "strong and healthy" but also displays, in an illustration, a red nose. Though the book is on the state's list of recommended reading for five- and six-year-olds, shocked officials (while not banning Little Red Riding Hood itself) eliminated this version. Explained spokeswoman Vera Jashi: "We have a very strong alcohol- and drug-abuse program in the district. This book gives us a double message."