The Wolf Who Cried Boy - Hardcover

PreS.-Gr. 2. Two funny turns on a familiar tale: Hartman's twists species; Levine's twists gender.

In The Wolf Who Cried Boy, Little Wolf wishes for something besides lamburgers and sloppy does for dinner. Actually, he'd prefer boy. Father agrees that if Little Wolf finds one, he can eat it. So the next day, to avoid another boring dinner, Little Wolf screams, "Boy!" His parents run, sniff, and search, but don't find a boy. Little Wolf thinks that's so funny, he pulls the same trick again, and his parents catch on. When Little Wolf sees a troop of boy scouts, he can't believe his eyes. Of course, his parents don't believe him--even when a scout makes himself at home on the wolves' couch. Unlike fractured fairy tales that rely simply on premise, this one finds humor in the details, in both the story (Granny Smith pie featuring a "hard, crusty" granny) and the art (the mischievous scout, emboldened by the wolves' disbelief). Raglin's sturdy pen-and-ink pictures, which soar above their cartoon styling, are electric with fun.

In Betsy, the illustrations are also more than simply amusing. Nash uses balloon captions for his sheep to express their thoughts about Betsy, the new eight-year-old shepherd. Betsy is determined to be the best shepherd ever, but Zimmo the wolf has another plan. Betsy spots Zimmo, who has all the characteristics on the wolf checklist, but he disappears when the grown-ups show up to check him out. The next time that happens, Betsy is sent back to shepherd school. The third time, Betsy deals with him herself and makes him a friend with her shepherd pies. The pacing slows a bit at the end, but there are some laugh-aloud moments and children will identify with the feisty, young shepherd. There's a glow and a flow to the pictures that add shine to the story. Ilene Cooper
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