Beware of the Storybook Wolves

by Lauren Child

Overview

For a real thrill, try reading Beware of the Storybook Wolves. It will scare your socks off! A fun-filled picture book with a fairytale twist, from Children's Laureate Lauren Child.

Every night, Herb's mother reads him a bedtime story. Sometimes it's about a big bad wolf who terrifies little girls and their grandmothers with his growl and his sharp teeth. The story gets very nasty in the middle and everybody nearly comes to a sticky end. But, by the last page, it all turns out happily-ever-afterly.

But what will happen to Herb when the wolves escape from his book? Will they gobble him up? Or will it all end happily-ever-after?

Equally loved by children young and old, this hilarious picture book is perfect for sharing together. From the creator of the award-winning, best-selling Charlie and Lola series!

Winner of the Smarties Book Prize Bronze Medal

"A refreshingly original tale that sparkles with wit" Junior

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781408314807
Publisher:	Hachette Children's
Publication date:	09/18/2012
Edition description:	New edition
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	875,504
Product dimensions:	11.60(w) x 9.70(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD860L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Lauren Child MBE is a multi-award-winning author and current Children's Laureate, whose books are known and loved the world over. She is the creator of many much-loved characters, including Charlie and Lola, Clarice Bean and Ruby Redfort. Since her first book was published in 1999, Lauren has sold over six million books in 19 languages worldwide. Her many awards include the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal for I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato, the Nestle Gold Book Award for That Pesky Rat and the Nestle Bronze Book Award for Beware of the Storybook Wolves. Lauren loves designing and making things and finds it exciting to see her drawings turned into objects. Other favourite things include the cinema, TV matinees, small Italian cars, handbags, cardigans, travelling and being picked up from the airport.

Editorial Reviews

Will keep young readers on their toes from beginning to end...Every household and every classroom should have a copy—School LIbrarian

A surreal intertextual tale that veers from nightmare to comedy—Books For Keeps

A smile-provoking yarn full of fairy-tale twists—New York Times

A fabulous book for those who are already au fait with all the run-of-the-mill tales—The Scotsman

Child makes words dance and topography jitterbug, and her sly sense of humour makes both children and adults giggle...At its most profound, this is about the tremendous power of books—The Guardian

The subversive humour is hilarious—The Children's Bookseller

Lauren Child's pictures and witty yext provide an agreeable frisson of fear followed by a happy ending—The Spectator

A refreshingly original tale that sparkles with wit—Junior

A highly entertaining retelling of some snappy stories—The Sunday Express

A stunning picture book ideal for children who enjoy suspense and adventure—Families West

Witty, amusing with vividly coloured illustrations, this book is bound to provide plenty of laughs for parents as well as children—The Sunday Tasmanian

Lauren Child's spiky, humorous illustrations add enormous fun and children can't help but to laugh out loud - often just thinking about the book—Carousel

Hilarious—Booktrust, 100 Best Books 2002

Lauren Child gives this very funny and original book some inventive twists—Books For Keeps

A wickedly funny book from one of the most exciting new talents around—Books Magazine

This goofy tale is fractured in all the right places—Booklist

From the Publisher

Herb just loves to ready storybooks, especially about the wolves in "Red Riding Hood" and "The Three Little Pigs." Every night, per Herb's request, his mom takes those oh-so-scary books out of his room. One night she forgets this important task and Herb is visited by two sketchy wolves. Herb relies on the power of storybooks to save him in this sticky situation.

bn.com

Jazzy graphics featuring collage elements and a chatty narrative spin out a fun fractured fairytale that succeeds in dramatizing ambivalence to scary books, said PW. Ages 4-8. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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. (Apr.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 2-4-Despite its eye-popping visual whimsy, this offering misses the mark on several fronts. Herb has a phobia about the wolves that populate his bedtime stories. His mother always takes the books away with her at night so the wolves that live inside it won't bother him while he sleeps. But one night she forgets, and Herb's worst fears are confirmed when two wolves materialize in his room, leading a parade of stock fairy-tale characters behind them. It doesn't take long for the Fairy Godmother to send Little Wolf off to the ball wearing Cinderella's dress and to turn Big Wolf into a caterpillar. After that, none of Herb's storybook plotlines are ever the same again. (Imagine a "tiny caterpillar trying with all his might to terrify a little girl in a red coat.") The story does a lot of meandering and while Child was obviously trying to make it zany and fun, it is ultimately just cluttered and directionless. However, her artwork is undeniably magnetic. Lively collages incorporate feathers, fabric samples, and wood grain, adding depth and variety to Herb's otherwise two-dimensional universe. The artist employs numerous typefaces and varies the size, shape, and orientation of the text to complement the twists and turns of the story. While many children will be caught up in the superlative artwork and might not mind the lack of a good story, this is not a happily ever after selection.-Catherine T. Quattlebaum, DeKalb County Public Library, Atlanta, GA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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