PETER AND THE WOLF

Prado’s interpretation of Sergei Prokofiev’s tale is a fine combination of raw power and arch simplicity. The story unfolds in comic-book format, with numerous panels to each page, and the artwork within the panels is hyper-evocative of the dark forest, moody and beautifully drafted, the colors rich and royal. Despite his grizzled grandfather’s advice—“Don’t ever go into the forest for any reason, because you’ll never come back out”—Peter roves into the woods in the querulous company of a songbird, a duck, and a cat. The wolf, not just ferocious but talismanic of the forest’s wild state, materializes and makes quick work of the duck. Peter sets a trap, snares the wolf by the tail—although hunters have him in their sights—and shoots him dead (the duck never makes a reappearance in this version). Peter at first feels a pang of remorse over the noble beast’s demise, for it is so necessary a presence in the forest. “But people are fickle. And their vanity is as insatiable as the hunger of wild animals. Peter was no exception. . . . He now only felt the admiration that the entire hamlet expressed over his great feat. So it goes.” This book is a winner: dramatic, transporting, and attuned to the value of wildness in nature and how it touches lives irreplaceably. (Picture book. 6-10)