One of the original versions of this story was written by two German brothers named Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. They lived in an area of Germany called Baden-Württemberg, and their story was inspired by a real place called the Black Forest! I was lucky to have the chance to visit the Black Forest last week, and it was definitely a magical place. In fact, Little Red Riding Hood is not the only fairy tale inspired by the Black Forest. Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Cinderella, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty all take place in the same magical forest!
What makes the Black Forest special? Well, I'm glad you asked! The Black Forest is called the Black Forest because trees there grow very close together. This means that the leaves create a canopy which can block all the sunlight from reaching the forest floor. At night, no moonlight can get through the trees either, so the forest is completely black! That's the reason there are so many fairy tales where children (like Hansel and Gretel) get lost in the forest at night.
The trees in the Black Forest do a lot more than blocking sunlight though. Some of them are over 1000 years old! The Black Forest has a lot of special trees called linden trees. Hundreds of years ago, people thought that linden trees could bring good luck and keep away evil spirits. People living in the Black Forest would use the wood from these trees to make beautiful cuckoo clocks, which play a little song every hour to announce the time. These cuckoo clocks are still very famous today! Flowers from the linden tree are also used to make delicious linden honey, which tastes like pine needles and is one of my favorite treats.
One funny thing about the Black Forest is that there aren't actually any wolves!
