Christelow, E. (2002). Where's the big bad wolf?. New York: Clarion Books.
32 Pages
Ages 4-8
Plot:
In this re-imagination of the classic Three Little Pigs story, police detective Doggedly is out to catch the Big Bad Wolf in the act. Because despite the repeated arrests and warnings, the Big Bad Wolf just can't seem to give up his mischievous antics. But one night, things start to get weird. Doggedly arrives on the scene of a blown down straw house built by three little pigs. He's sure it's got Big Bad Wolf written all over it, but he's nowhere to be found. Instead there's a strange new sheep, Esmerelda, who's just moved into town and been helping the piggies build their house. Doggedly tracks down the wolf only to find him sick in bed, and has to dismiss him as a suspect. But again the next night a house of sticks is blown over and once again while Doggedly is sure the Big Bad Wolf is involved, he again only finds Esmerelda at the sight and the Big Bad Wolf is now so sick he's in the hospital. Finally, when the piggies build a house of brick to withstand the repeated attacks, the culprit finds themselves unable to blow the house down. Fleeing the scene though is Esmerelda. So following her, Doggedly arrives at the hospital to find Big Bad Wolf climbing through the window and throwing off his disguise. This time Doggedly really locks him up.
My Impressions:
I really think children will get a kick out of this book as they can spot the apparent deception that Detective Doggedly is missing. As children are usually already familiar with the story, this added twist allows for a new level of engagement with the story. I did think the story was unnecessarily wordy at times though and I would've liked the artwork to be a bit more engaging, making some of the action more obvious or perhaps even more subtle, where the reader really has to take a closer look.
Reviews:
From Book Links
K-Gr. 4. Detective Doggedly constantly catches the Big Bad Wolf in the act of committing crimes against the pigs in town. Now the Wolf is disguising himself as other animals, and Detective Doggedly must try to see through his guise. Readers can draw conclusions about the wolf in sheep's clothing from the text and illustrations and also compare this title with more traditional versions of the story of the three little pigs."
Where's the Big Bad Wolf? (2004). Book Links, 13(5), 41.
From Kirkus Reviews
"Three little pigs get some real bad advice from a wolf in a real goofy sheep disguise in this comical whodunit. The three little pigs are having their homes blown dowry--and escaping by the hair of their chinny-chin-chins--and Detective Doggedly believes it might be the work of the shiftless, no-account neighborhood wolf, the infamous BBW. But the only character found at the crime scenes is a newcomer to town: Esmeralda the sheep. Sure, kids will note, Esmeralda their foot, for her disguise is pretty transparent. She has also been giving the pigs construction ideas: straw is good, twigs are good, and cardboard's not bad. Two cows suggest a brick house, which foils the wolf and ends in his unveiling and incarceration. Short-term incarceration, that is, as he's soon back, this time tricked out as a horse, with more self-serving recommendations: "Pick peas after midnight, when everybody is asleep. They'll taste sweeter." So what if there are a few inexplicables here--How did the wolf con his way into that hospital bed?--this is good clownish fun, and the rough-and-tumble art keeps the farce bubbling. (Picture book. 4-7)"
WHERE'S THE BIG BAD WOLF? (2002). Kirkus Reviews, 70(14), 1028.
Library Suggestions:
This book would be great as a read-aloud story time book for a small group of kids so that the accompanying images could easily be seen by all. This way the children can spot the obvious deception that Doggedly is missing and be able to really interact with the story.
No comments:
Post a Comment