The Boy Who Cried Wolf (review)

"I am SO bored," thinks the young shepherd, who's stuck out in the field watching sheep, who only eat ("Munch, munch, munch") and say "baaaaaaaaaaaa." The "most bored boy in the world" attempts to leaven the situation by teaching the sheep tricks, but they just want to eat and bleat. He hits on the brilliant idea of calling a false wolf alert, which rouses the village; the next day, enamored of his exciting ploy, he claims a sighting of two wolves, again with satisfying results. Unfortunately for our playful protagonist, when three wolves actually turn up on the third day, his cries and alarums draw no response, and he has to collect his scattered sheep all by himself. This version of the famous fable provides its hero with an unusually soft landing (basically, he's still just spending his day in the field again), which slightly blunts its impact, but the storytelling is otherwise cunningly balanced between matter-of-fact and humorous, cleverly enhancing the tale's structure with additional repetitive tropes. Kulikov's watercolor-and-gouache illustrations enhance the story's humor and place it in a vivid yet slightly strange world. Careful brushstrokes delineate the sheep's nappy coats and fuzzy faces with a sculptural texture, but their eyes are human in design and even in placement, suggesting less a common domestic beast than some mythological portmanteau creature. Perspectives zoom in, out, and around, allowing particularly amusing views of the bulbous miscreant as he sprawls on his back crosseyed in boredom, picks his nose, or bolts past the picture's edge. The offbeat comic energy in text and, especially, illustrations imbues this old classic with new energy, making this a useful addition to the storytime shelves.