6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
3 1/2 Long on Story, Short on Originality, November 17, 2007
While stories about disguised wolves looking for food have built-in audience appeal (especially when they pose as fedora-wearing detectives), this one seems a bit derivative. The whole "bad boy" concept seems similar to Daniel Pinkwater's "Bad Bear" series, and, while it may be in the public domain, describing your detective agency as "Dewey-Ketchum and Howe can be heard is not very original either. The book's running joke--when the two wolves have the same thought --the phrase "brain ditto!"--is initially uncleare and then overdone.
However, there are some genuinely clever moments as well. We first encounter the two "bad" wolves, Wally and Willy, in a completely messy, food-covered apartment, the remnant of sugar cookies, ice cream, chocolates, and other sweets on the floor. There's a pun on eating "brownies" (a uniformed girl--gasp!--is pictured), and avery funny sequence where a baker describes his missing cookie as if it were aperson: "...he's about this high. Thin. Lightly browned. Full of sugar and spice...He's wearing a white-icing jacket with guymdrop buttons."
"We know the type," says Willy.
THe missing cookie is unsympathetic, sort of a brat really, and perhaps that's why we root for the wolves in the very episodic story of their failed attempts at capture. It all plays a little like a Wile E. Coyote Roadrunner animation (and the unsubtle illustrations add to this effect), with one failed attempt leading to another, until the cookie meets its (unseen) demise in the mouth of an alligator. One of the wolves ruses is posing as Hansel and Gretel, asking the cookie to help find their way back to their "mama and papa." This backfires on them, as the conclusion finds them facing the witch who imprisoned the real Hansel and Gretel, kneeling happily before her oven.
ALthough this long book has a lot of action scenes, more character development (show us, don't tell us that they're bad), and originality would have improved it.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This is a follow-up book to Bad Boys, but not quite as good., January 20, 2007
I enjoyed this book. Not all the scenes are 2-pages wide, but more than half of them are. There are 29 pages in total. I thought the illustrations were well done. Kids will definitely like the book because of the illustrations. And the text was adequate.
The story is about two male wolves that seem to be perpetually hungry. At the outset they were lounging at home on their sofa when they both got the idea they wanted some sort of dessert (maybe a cookie?). They decide to get out of the house and track down a cookie and the story is about them trying to get/catch a cookie.
I felt a little cheated when I didn't get to see the reptile enjoy the cookie for dessert. And I would have liked the ending with the old lady to be a little more developed. 4 stars!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Funny Literary "Mashup", April 20, 2011
What a gem for language arts instruction! Margie Palatini and Henry Cole return together to spin yet another great yarn featuring the hilarious wolf duo of "Bad Boys" Willy and Wally. This time out they create a fun literary mashup of the classic fairy-tales of the `The Gingerbread Man', `Three Pigs', and `Hansel and Gretel'. Filled with wordplay, idioms, and dual meanings, the Bad Boys pursuit of Cookie is filled with language lessons for teachers and parents alike. One example of the fun takes place when the Bad Boys actually do huff, and puff, and even blow; but it's in a whole different context that leaves the audience laughing with glee. This is great entertainment.
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