Little Wolf's Book of Badness (Middle Grade Fiction) [Hardcover]

Ian Whybrow (Author), Tony Ross (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1999 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Middle Grade Fiction

Little Wolf has been brushing his teeth without being growled at, he's been going to bed early, and he's been far too nice to his baby brother, Smellybreff! His parents are so worried that they will never make a beast out of him that they send him off to Cunning College, where his Uncle Bigbad instructs timid cubs in the rules of badness. With each letter home to his parents, Little Wolf reveals a new adventure or lesson that he's learned on his way to Cunning College. Once there, Little Wolf is in for a few surprises! Will Uncle Bigbad turn Little Wolf into a sausage sandwich before he has revealed all the rules of badness to him? Or, will Little Wolf outsmart his crafty uncle and earn his BAD badge so that he can become a big bad beast and make his parents proud? This cleverly-written tale holds the answers to these questions and more! Join the many fun-loving readers around the world that have been delighted by the endearing illustrations and witty plot of Little Wolf's Book of Badness!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A far cry from some of the wittier fractured fairy tales, Whybrow (A Baby for Grace) paints this picture with broad strokes. In letters sent to his parents, Little Wolf chronicles his sluggish journey to Uncle Bigbad's Cunning College for Brute Beasts in Frettnin Forest. He hopes to learn from his uncle the nine Rules of Badness ("Huff and puff a lot"; "Blow everybody down," etc.) in order to earn his BAD Badge and convince his family that he isn't a "goody-4-paws." Finally, the young wolf reaches his uncle's school, devoid of students ("I am so frightfully frightening, they all fled and flew away!" explains the former educator), and the grouchy beast eventually expels Little Wolf. Befriended by a pack of Cub Scouts, the little fellow is at long last awarded a badgeAalbeit not the one he left home to earn. The expected fixtures are all here: the uncle unsuccessfully huffs and puffs to try to blow down the scouts' tents and disguises himself as Little Red Riding Hood's granny. Fans of Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants series may be amused by some of the bathroom humor (Little Wolf returns from the camp with three cans of baked beans, which Uncle Bigbad greedily devours and which hasten his demise when his proximity to the fire causes him to explode), but much of Pilkey's winning originality is missing here. Ross's understated, childlike black-and-white sketches offer a welcome counter to the obvious text but can't completely bail out this lame spoof. Ages 8-12. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Grade 2-4-Little Wolf is altogether too well behaved for his fierce wolf family, so they send him to Cunning College to take badness lessons from his Uncle Bigbad, the nastiest wolf of all. However, Little Wolf's education doesn't turn out the way anyone expects, and the result is the fall-down funny (but never preachy) story of a cheerful nonconformist finding a way to be himself. Written in a style somewhere between A. A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh and Dav Pilkey's The Adventures of Captain Underpants (Scholastic, 1997), the story owes its humor as much to Ross's line drawings of the irrepressible youngster as to Whybrow's clever narrative, told through Little Wolf's letters home to his family. The book begs to be read aloud: Uncle Bigbad shouts all his lines in capital letters ("GRRRR! BEGONE, VILE BALL OF FLUFF!") and Little Wolf uses deliciously creative nonwords like "skwish," "lipsmackerous," and "frozz." References to "Little Red Riding Hood," "The Three Little Pigs," and the Cub Scouts will engage young readers. So, too, will Little Wolf, who is a wuss by wolf standards but still eats beetles and rabbit rolls, scares a lady at a bus stop, and plays inside a fallen-down chimney because he likes getting dirty. Successful as comedy, fractured fairy tale, and coming-of-age story all in one, Little Wolf's Book of Badness is terrific.
Beth Wright, Dorothy Alling Memorial Library, Williston, VT
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 132 pages
• Publisher: Carolrhoda Books (November 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1575054108
• ISBN-13: 978-1575054100
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,562,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kept an 8-year old then a 10-year-old rapt for an afternoon, May 9, 2000

By 

Joanne K. Bouknight (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Little Wolf's Book of Badness (Middle Grade Fiction) (Hardcover)

In response to the review below, my 8-year old LOVED the "ly" endings to all the salutations in Little Wolf's letters. He also pointed out (with gleeful superiority)how funny it was that various words were mispelled. He was given this book after he thoroughly enjoyed the second in the series. Then his big brother took the book for a long look. Very funny, entertaining, goofy English humor. I love the ink splotches. I just wish they were already in paperback and I'd give them out!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reading Is Fun, March 17, 2006

By 

Loraine "Lady Love" (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little Wolf's Book of Badness (Middle Grade Fiction) (Paperback)

This book created an interest in reading for my 7 year old at that time when reading became more of a struggle than a delight. We stumbled across Little Wolf's Book on the not so exciting weekly trip to the library. My son started reading the book in the car and for once I had to make him put a book down before coming to my dinning room table. My son read the book in four days and even took it to school and told some of his friends about Little Wolf. My son even took his own money and bought himself a journal. This book even encourages other good habits. To this day my son writes daily, sometimes twice a day. I am loving every bit of his enthusiasm toward reading and writing.

For the person who ridicules this book must have been born a reader, born a master of the English language and never had to start at A then make his/her way to Z! From my son's experience with this book I can attest to the knowledge we fail to recognize our children have. My son took the misspelled words and related to them. When he first began writing the words resembled the misspelled words in the book. He wrote the sounds he heard just as he heard them. It's all in the process of learning. It made my son feel better knowing that he is not the only one misspells words while writing. Little did I know this book was made for the 9-12 age groups, not for a seven year old, but it worked wonders. Built his confidence and created a passion for reading and writing. Thank you Ian Whybrow!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We loved it!, October 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Little Wolf's Book of Badness (Middle Grade Fiction) (Hardcover)

I bought this book and the other in the series for my nephew. He loves them! The map in the front allows him to follow Little Wolf's travels. My nephew is only 5 and an unusually good reader for his age. We began reading it together and soon he was reading it on his own because he did not see me often enough. The book bridged the gap between simple picture books and easy readers, to the Harry Potter level. It was a real page turner for him! We both wish there were more in the series!