Sassy spin brings fresh focus to traditional tale

Now that it's finally warm outside, your kids can't wait to hit the skateboard park. As your daughter attempts a 360, she notices a familiar face whizzing by. Who could be skating with such fearless technique? Why, it's none other than Mrs. Peabody, your daughter's soft-spoken, gray-haired homeroom teacher. Mrs. Peabody—now decked out in knee pads and attempting ollies that make middle-schoolers drool.

Instead of judging a book by its cover, you've got to flip through the pages. That's the lesson learned in Hoodwinked, released on home video May 2. After watching the movie, use our questions below for a family talk about how appearances can be deceiving. Then do our activity, “Funny Faux-tographs,” to bring the lesson to life!

The animated film starts with the fairy tale of “Little Red Riding Hood” as we know it. Red Riding Hood (Anne Hathaway) stops by Granny's house, only to find the Wolf (Patrick Warburton) disguised as Granny, lying in her bed, attempting to lure Red closer to he can attack her.

That's when the story takes a turn. Street-smart Red Riding Hood attacks the Wolf with a can of mace. All of a sudden, a crazy woodsman (Jim Belushi) comes crashing through the window, as Granny (Glenn Close) rolls out of the closet, bound and gagged.

At first, it seems like an open-and-shut case. But through police interrogations, the characters reveal secret lives and true identities that make you realize there are different sides to every story.

Talk Together

What character's secret life surprised you the most? Have you met people whose appearances or intentions are deceiving? Perhaps the friend you think is talking behind your back is really planning your surprise party. Or maybe the most awkward kid in your class happens to be a graceful ballet dancer. What kinds of questions can you ask people that will help you learn more about them than what you see from the outside?

As a family, take another traditional fairy tale and make up different sides to the story. Try telling the tale of Cinderella from the stepsisters' or fairy godmother's point of view. Stories can be much more interesting when you look at them from different angles!

Play Together: Funny Faux-tographs

Fool your friends with these tricky pictures!

You will need:
• Camera
• Fishing line
• Stuffed animal
• Your imagination

These optical illusion photos are easy to take and help to reinforce Hoodwinked's message that things aren't always as they seem.

For the first photo, tie a piece of fishing line around a stuffed animal's neck. Have your child grab the line, holding the animal in the air. The animal should be close to the camera with a big building far behind it. Take the photo, being careful not to capture any fingers in the frame. It will appear that the animal is balanced on the roof.

Use your imagination to create more funny photos. Other ideas include having one child sit in the bottom of a tube slide with only her legs sticking out. Have the other child sit at the top of the tube slide with only her torso and head peeking out. The photo will look like the child at the top of the slide has super-long legs.

These silly snapshots will help illustrate that, just as with Hoodwinked's twists and turns, the big picture often contains more than what you see at first sight!