Beware Of The Storybook Wolves [Paperback]

Lauren Child (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up

Every kid has some story book character that scares them--a wolf, a wicked witch, a creepy bad guy. Here at last is the inspiring silly antidote for that fear.

Herb loves to be scared by the wolves in storybooks--as long as his mom takes the book out of his room at night. When she forgets one night, Herb gets an unwanted visit. Stalling for time, Herb explains that little boys are best for dessert and Big Wolf and Little Wolf should start with an appetizer, like Jell-O! He seeks help from the stars of fairy tales such as Cinderella's fairy godmother, but not before things get very sticky. This is a fairy tale so artfully fractured it looks seamless and a message about creativity and imagination that any young dreamer would love.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

There's nothing Herb likes better just before bed than a good, scary wolf story, the scarier and hairier the better. But each night he says to his mom, "Don't forget to take that book with you!" Herb's mother thinks that storybook wolves are not at all dangerous, but Herb doesn't want to take any chances. And then one night the unthinkable happens. One of the wolf books is accidentally left behind. And now two wolves have emerged from the storybook, hungry for a meal of little boy. Can Herb outwit the wily wolves? And what about the cantankerous witch who sneaks out of another book while Herb's not looking? With a bit of borrowed Jell-O and the help of a few other fairy-tale characters shaken out of the books by a desperate Herb, he just might make it.

Lauren Child, brilliant creator of Clarice Bean, That's Me and I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato, taps into shadowy childhood fears--and vanquishes them with wit and imagination. Her clever collages use rough-cut paper and fabric patterns to fabulous effect. (Ages 6 to 10) --Emilie Coulter --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Herb loves his Little Red Riding Hood picture book, with its lupine villain and its back-cover ad for "The Little Fierce Wolf and the Three Pink Piglets." He also prefers to keep the book at a distance, "Because there's a wolf in it, of course." One night, after his mother mistakenly leaves it on his bedside table, Herb smells wolf breath and hears "a deep rumbling sound... like the rumbling of a very hungry tummy." He flicks on the lamp and sees his two storybook wolves licking their chops. Herb grabs a fairy-tale treasury, flips to a picture of a fairy godmother "and shook it until she tumbled out of the book and onto the floor." With the godmother's help, the wolves are banished. Despite the tense situations, Child keeps the mood light with brightly patterned cut paper and collage elements like sequins and feathers. She alleviates dark areas with ample negative space and with backdrops of pale pink and robin's-egg blue. Her mock-threatening wolves have ridiculous pointy noses, prickly fur and incongruous coats and ties. The chatty narrative is not as effective here as it is in Child's Clarice Bean series; it reads a bit like an ad-lib, with too many twists and turns. Yet Child succeeds in dramatizing ambivalence to scary books, which provide excitement but harbor nightmarish creatures in their pages. Ages 4-8.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439205018
• ISBN-13: 978-0439205016
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,473,987 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lauren Child is the multi-talented prize-winning creator of the characters Charlie and Lola, Clarice Bean and Hubert Horatio Bobton-Trent. She has won the Smarties Gold Award, Smarties Bronze Award, Kate Greenaway Medal and been shortlisted for the Children's Book of the Year at the British Book Awards. Lauren lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun for adults too, July 26, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Beware Of The Storybook Wolves (Hardcover)

I expected a lot from this book, from the catchy title and the great illustrations, and it delivered! My two girls, ages 5 and 3, absolutely love it too. The wolves try to be so scary, but they just end up being funny. Out of the many, many children's books I have read to my girls, this is probably my favorite. A definate buy!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun with Fairy Tales, April 5, 2001

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beware Of The Storybook Wolves (Hardcover)

There's nothing little Herb likes more than hearing his mom read his favorite bedtime story. You know, the one with the little girl in red and that horrible, slobbering, hairy wolf. And each night after she's finished reading, Herb makes sure she takes the book with her when she leaves his room. Mom thinks storybook wolves are harmless. Herb's not so sure and he's not going to take any chances. Sure enough, one night just as she's finished reading, the phone rings and his mother leaves the book lying open, turns out the light and runs to answer it. The next thing Herb sees is a couple of really nasty, hungry, drooling wolves that think he would make a good meal. But Herb's thinking fast, opening other story books and shaking out a few characters who might be able to help him outwit these two ugly carnivores..... Lauren Child has done it again as she captures the very real fears and runaway imaginations of the young mind. Her witty, silly text is only outdone by her marvelous and creative collage illustrations and youngsters will enjoy all the bright and busy details. With a surprise ending will have both kids and grown-ups laughing out loud, Beware the Storybook Wolves is perfect for youngsters 4-8 and is sure to amuse and delight everyone in the family.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2 Someone Let the Wolves Out!, September 14, 2006

By 

M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beware Of The Storybook Wolves (Hardcover)

Like the Jeff Daniels' character in Woody Allen's "Purple Rose of Cairo," the wolf steps out of a copy of "LIttle Red Riding Hood" that Herb's mother has been reading to him. Herb has a love/hate relationship with wolves; like many small fry, he's intrigued with what frightens him. While he can stomach a pictue of a wolf with a pig's tail sticking out of its mouth, he asks his mom to take "Little Red Riding Hood" with her, "because there's a wolf in it, of course." Fortunately, Ms. Child has the mother immediately reassuring Herb, "Herb's mother would smile to herself because she knew that storybook wolves are not at all dangerous.

That would be it, except for that convenient plot device, the maybe-dream (often paired, as it is here, with the one-eyebrow-raised, "Or was it a dream?"). Herb is suddenly confronted with two hungry wolves from his story book, one apparently a novice: "Ooh, can I have his pink toes? They look just like piglets," said Little Wolf. And he tried to lick his chops, but he wasn't very good at it and just ended up dribbling on the carpet.

Herb tricks the wolves with the nick-of-time assistance of a more benevolent character he shakes out of a different fairy tale. As a result, Little Wolf is accidentally inserted into "Cinderella," Big Wolf becomes a caterpillar, and Herb finally gets to sleep--after making sure that no one else can get out of his books. SPOILER AHEAD! The "was it really a dream" suggestion takes place inside, rather than outside, "Little Red Riding Hood." The next time, Herb and his mom read it, there's no wolf there!--"just a tiny caterpillar trying with all his might to terrify a little girl..."

Lauren Child has written a funny and imaginative book, even if, at times, parts of it seemed a little too conveniently patched together. The wolves and the boy get realistic portrayals, and adults might want to check the gullibility levels of their young audiences so that, like Herb's mom, they're sure their storybook villains can't magically harm them. Child illustrates with her trademark stylings: Sketchily drawn lines, an emphasis on facial expressions, ornate design, and wonderful collages that give some pictures a slightly skewed, 3-D effect. In other books, Child's text and pictures also play with familiar storylines, and there's a "Fractured Flickers" sensibility that those books share with 'Storybook Wolves.' While not her very best work, this one will be a winner with kids who like to turn fairy tales inside out.