There Is No Big Bad Wolf In This Story

There Is No Big Bad Wolf In This Story

There Is No Big Bad Wolf In This Story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There Is No Big Bad Wolf In This Story

Lou Carter

Deborah Allwright

Bloomsbury, 2021

32pp., pbk., RRP $A14.99

9781526608161

The Big Bad Wolf is late AGAIN and is ruining stories as he rushes through the forest to Grandma’s house. When the Three Little Pigs get seriously grumpy AGAIN, Wolf tells them he’s had ENOUGH. There will be no more HUFFING and PUFFING from this Big Bad Wolf. The fairytale characters aren’t worried – they can totally manage without him!

But Big Bad Wolfing is harder than it looks … And what happens when they realise that they really need a Big Bad Wolf in this story.

Like its predecessor, There is No Dragon in this Story, this is another charming romp through Fairytale Land, this time The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood, particularly, with some other familiar characters thrown in.  This is more for readers who are familiar with the original tales and characters that are commonly found in fairytales as that will help them appreciate the nuances of the story and its irony. Would the little pigs really want their houses blown down and would the wolf really want to end up in the pot each time? There is also a subtle message about taking others for granted and working as a team that threads its way through  and it offers an introduction to investigating the role of the ‘villain’ in these sorts of stories, as well as the original didactic purpose of the genre itself.  On an even deeper level, some could consider whether stories such as The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood colour a person’s perceptions of the wolf from a young age leading to situations like those of Fourteen Wolves allowing for real differentiation of the curriculum through one apparently simple book.

Nevertheless, even without the maturity to view the story through those lenses, this is one that little ones will enjoy because of its familiar characters, bright illustrations and fast-paced action. But I’m glad it allowed me to dig deeper for possibilities, as all quality picture books do. 

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