BEWARE OF THE STORYBOOK WOLVES

Child fractures a few fairy tales, and the wolves get it in the chops once again, in this story of a young boy and his bedtime worries. Herb's mom reads him "Little Red Riding Hood" every night. Herb loves it—that wolf gives him a chilling pleasure—but he wants his mom to take the book with her when she goes. One night she mistakenly leaves it behind and sure enough, two wolves materialize and propose to sup on Herb. Herb delays his demise by suggesting that little boys are really a dessert course and the wolves ought to start with appetizers. At that point, other fairy tales start becoming involved: "This was bad luck for Herb because the wicked fairy hated little boys only slightly less than she hated little girls. They made her nervous. She'd seen what those little brats Hansel and Gretel had done to that poor defenseless witch." The Little Wolf gets sent to the ball in Cinderella's dress—“Which of course left Cinderella having a night in, cleaning the kitchen after all"—and the other gets transformed into a caterpillar by the Fairy Godmother, saving Herb's bacon, and giving the story a rather abrupt conclusion. Not quite as devilish as a Scieszka/Smith production, but just a step shy and with the same sophisticated, crackpot patter that may likely zoom right over young listeners' heads while pleasing adult readers. Child's trademark ink-and-wash and collage artwork, filled with sly wit, scraggly wolves, and goofy humans plays with perspective and placement of text, adding just the right over-the-top lunacy. Don’t miss the Little Wolf in heels, hairy legs, and party dress being dipped by the prince on the dance floor. (Picture book. 4-9)