In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • Good Little Wolf
  • Jeannette Hulick
Shireen, Nadia . Good Little Wolf; written and illus. by Nadia Shireen. Knopf, 2011. Library ed. ISBN 978-0-375-96904-1 $19.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-375-86904-4 $16.99 Ad 5-7 yrs.

Rolf is such a good little wolf: he eats his veggies, plays nicely with his friends, and generally makes himself helpful. Then he meets Big Bad Wolf ("Now, what do we have here?" asks the menacingly looming BBW), who tells him he's not a real wolf unless he howls at the moon, blows houses down, and gobbles up people. Rolf tries to prove himself at the set tasks, but he finally rebels, maintaining that he can be a "proper wolf " and also be good. To celebrate, Rolf and his best human friend invite Big Bad Wolf for tea and implore him to stop eating people. Big Bad Wolf acquiesces . . . after eating Rolf and his friend ("I'll stop first thing tomorrow"). While there is a certain bad-boy charm to Big Bad Wolf, Shireen has up until that point made adorable Rolf the hero of the tale; it's therefore really quite disappointing for him to be eaten at the book's end. If listeners can get past that (and some may not), and if they're not confused by the reappearance of Rolf in a vignette on the final page, they may enjoy the sly and unexpected ending. What Shireen lacks in [End Page 168] satisfying endings, she makes up for in her zesty mixed-media illustrations, even if her rendering of Rolf as a cute and furry little gray guy serves to make his demise even more traumatic. Widely spaced eyes and top-heavy figures give Rolf and his friends a sweet look of innocence (although the humans look a little South Park), a sensibility echoed by the subtle patterns and pastels of many of the background spreads. The Big Bad Wolf, in contrast, stunningly, sometimes comically, dominates every spread he's in by reason of his larger size, his inky blackness amid the sweet hues, and his yellow eyes, red nose, and pointy white teeth. Adults will have to decide if their kids are up for this somewhat twisted tale; if so, they'll find some wolfishly amusing unjust deserts here.

...

pdf

Share