Not so much a black sheep as one who just doesn’t buy into the herd thing, Charlotte is forever causing the older woolly heads to tut-tut at her un-sheep-like behavior. Her predilection for wandering off to hang out in trees, take a swim or clamber up mountains stands her in good stead, though, when the old sheepherder breaks his leg, and someone has to undertake a long trip to fetch the farmer. Wilson follows the errant ovine’s escapades in big, outdoorsy, soft-focus scenes well populated by woolly onlookers with comically astonished expressions. In the end, her successful mission leaves the older sheep nodding to themselves that, even though the shepherd and his dog might be getting on, “as long as Charlotte is here to watch over us, we should be okay.” An appealing suggestion that independence in young human mavericks is worth nurturing, however worrisome it may sometimes be. (Picture book. 6-8)