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Beware of the storybook wolves ISBN: 9780340779163
Child, Lauren
Published by Hodder, 2001
Herb loves his bedtime story, particularly 'Little Red Riding Hood), but he also quite likes for mum to take the book with her when she leaves the room - because there's a wolf in it! One night she leaves it, and Herb dreams a wonderful dream about show-off wolves trying to eat him. The wicked fairy in 'The Sleeping Beauty' and the fairy godmother in 'Cinderella' dress the smaller wolf in a dress and send him off to the ball, and then turn the big wolf into a caterpillar. These very matter-of-fact fairy tale creatures all finally disappear, but Herb takes the precaution of stacking all his story books in a pile and putting his bed on top before climbing in. There's a nice twist at the end too. This is sensational. The combination of the jaunty (and very modern) fairy tale characters, along with Child's spikey, witty pictures and the typography of the text make this terrifically funny. There is one picture with the wolf about to gobble up Herb that could be scary, but within the context, should not be, and the idea of a wolf turning into a caterpillar is wonderful. Children can be frightened of books - fairy tales in particular - and this should provide heaps of reassurance.
Age: 4+