bookshelf

THE BIG BAD WOLF IN MY HOUSE

Name: THE BIG BAD WOLF IN MY HOUSE
Author: Valérie Fontaine
ISBN: 978-1-77306-501-4

by Valérie Fontaine ; illustrated by Nathalie Dion ; translated by Shelley Tanaka ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 2, 2021

Masterfully done.

bookshelf

A fablelike telling of domestic violence.

The story starts abruptly. “He didn’t need to huff, or puff or blow the house down”; a tall, brown, bipedal wolf strides into the home of a White, blond woman and her dark-haired White child. While “he batted his eyelashes and purred like a pussycat in front of my mother,” in the next spread he’s glancing back at the narrator “with cold eyes and sharp teeth.” The abuse escalates from shouting at the mother when she’s late through throwing a plate to leaving “finger marks on my arm.” Artfully harking back to an old tale, the child frets that “the blankets jumbled up around my head did not protect me any more than a pile of straw,” and the bedroom door, “a barrier made of wood,” was no protection; the only recourse is to build “a fort made of bricks” and “put it up around my heart.” This story is intense but it is never gratuitous, and before long the mother gets them to a safe house. Some might worry about frightening children with an honest depiction of abuse, but, as the narrator acknowledges, this is only slightly darker than many fairy tales. More importantly, it provides some readers with a much-needed recognition of their experiences while for others it is an age-appropriate introduction to a crucial subject.

Masterfully done. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: March 2, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-77306-501-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Groundwood

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- PERSPECTIVES
Celebrate Canada Day With These Children’s Books

bookshelf

BEST BUNNY BROTHER EVER

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Tim Bowers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 6, 2026

A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note.

bookshelf

Little Honey Bunny Funnybunny loves baseball almost as much as she loves her big brother P.J.—though it’s a close-run thing.

Readers familiar with the pranks P.J. plays on his younger sibling in older episodes of the series (most illustrated by Roger Bollen) will be amused—and perhaps a little confused—to see him in the role of perfect big brother after meeting his swaddled little sister for the first time in mama’s lap. But here, along with being a constant companion and “always happy to see her,” he cements his heroic status in her eyes by hitting a home run for his baseball team and then patiently teaching her how to play T-ball. After carefully coaching her and leading her through warm-up exercises, he even sits in the stands, loudly cheering her on as she scores the winning run in her own very first game. “‘You are the best brother a bunny could ever have!’” she burbles. This tale’s a tad blander compared with others centered on P.J. and his sister, but it’s undeniably cheery, with text well structured for burgeoning readers. The all-smiles animal cast in Bowers’ cartoon art features a large and diversely hued family of bunnies sporting immense floppy ears as well as a multispecies crowd of furry onlookers equally varied of color, with one spectator in a wheelchair.

A tale of mutual adoration that hits a sweet note. (Early reader. 6-8)

Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026

ISBN: 9798217032464

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026

Categories:

CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST
by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis

- BOOK REVIEW
IT'S NOT EASY BEING SANTA CLAUS
by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis

- BOOK REVIEW
CHARLIE PIECHART AND THE CASE OF THE MISSING PIZZA SLICE
by Eric Comstock & Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Eric Comstock

bookshelf

CLAYMATES

by Dev Petty ; illustrated by Lauren Eldridge ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 20, 2017

The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted...

bookshelf

Reinvention is the name of the game for two blobs of clay.

A blue-eyed gray blob and a brown-eyed brown blob sit side by side, unsure as to what’s going to happen next. The gray anticipates an adventure, while the brown appears apprehensive. A pair of hands descends, and soon, amid a flurry of squishing and prodding and poking and sculpting, a handsome gray wolf and a stately brown owl emerge. The hands disappear, leaving the friends to their own devices. The owl is pleased, but the wolf convinces it that the best is yet to come. An ear pulled here and an extra eye placed there, and before you can shake a carving stick, a spurt of frenetic self-exploration—expressed as a tangled black scribble—reveals a succession of smug hybrid beasts. After all, the opportunity to become a “pig-e-phant” doesn’t come around every day. But the sound of approaching footsteps panics the pair of Picassos. How are they going to “fix [them]selves” on time? Soon a hippopotamus and peacock are staring bug-eyed at a returning pair of astonished hands. The creative naiveté of the “clay mates” is perfectly captured by Petty’s feisty, spot-on dialogue: “This was your idea…and it was a BAD one.” Eldridge’s endearing sculpted images are photographed against the stark white background of an artist’s work table to great effect.

The dynamic interaction between the characters invites readers to take risks, push boundaries, and have a little unscripted fun of their own . (Picture book. 5-8)