Review by Booklist Review
In this fractured fable, an old wolf with a vegetable garden (from which his usual harvest is weeds) hears a young goatherd crying, ""Wolf! Wolf!"" The wolf (who wonders if he is invited to lunch) soon makes off with a goat, thinking to ""feast like an old wolf should."" Before dining, however, he notices a difference in his garden: the goat has eaten the weeds and left the veggies. ""I could use a friend like you,"" says the Wolf, and he and the goat walk into the sunset. Roccos expository retelling is lively and conversational, the dialogue adding both energy and humor. Vibrant illustrations feature diagonal lines that sweep from the outer edge to the center of images, focusing the eye. The anthropomorphized wolf dominates nearly every page with his telling countenance and expressive body language. Kimono-draped characters, flying cranes, and pigtailed villagers indicate an Asian landscape, but this cultural disconnect probably wont bother children who arent tied to tradition.--"Del Negro, Janice" Copyright 2007 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Ably illustrated and imaginatively reconceived, this version of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" stars not the boy, but the wolf. No bloodthirsty brigand, this wolf is an arthritic has-been who's reduced to raising vegetables in a weed-choked garden. The boy's false cries from over the hill raise the wolf's hopes: could this mean a free meal? While children wonder whether the wolf will snag his prey, adults may be intrigued by the story's exotic setting. Under a canopy of wind-swept trees and cherry blossoms, the wolf sports a Chinese silk jacket of the type seen in old Fu Manchu movies, the boy wears a topknot, and the neighbors who complain about the boy's false cries sport queues and silk caps. Rocco (illustrator of Alice by Whoopi Goldberg) creates a world with internal consistency, and his deftly paced long shots and close-ups testify to his previous work in animation (including as art director for Shrek). The wolf smoothly talks the boy out of a goat ("The villagers are only going to believe you if you really are missing a goat. I can help you with that," he says) but, in a beguiling ending, he spares the goat (which has eaten the weeds from his garden). "What's one breakfast," he tells the goat magnanimously, "compared to delicious vegetables for the rest of my days?" The wolf may move slowly, but the story gallops. Rocco substitutes a series of giggles for the traditional finger-pointing moral, a welcome development. Ages 3-7. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-This twisted treatment of Aesop's fable flips everything readers know about the boy who cried wolf on its head and ends up where they never would have expected. From the brushstrokes of the hand-lettered title to the pink cherry blossoms featured with the wolf and the boy on the cover, ancient China unfolds as the stage and setting for this story. In this variant, children get a little insight into the wolf's point of view: When the boy cries "WOLF! WOLF!" the slightly deaf animal believes he is being summoned. He feels tricked by the youngster when the angry villagers arrive looking for a menacing creature. The poor animal is only looking for a tasty meal, possibly one of the boy's goats since his garden has fallen into disarray. In the end, the boy gives the old wolf a goat; instead of making him a one-time-only meal, the wolf puts him to work in his garden, and the two become friends. The wolf is a fully anthropomorphized character, complete with red silk jacket and shade umbrella. The purposeful use of frames, unusual setting, and visual humor makes this an excellent addition to any collection and a particularly interesting launching point for many discussions and investigations into fractured tales.-Genevieve Gallagher, Murray Elementary School, Charlottesville, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In this retelling, a hungry old wolf is drawn to a boy ""crying wolf."" The wolf convinces the boy to give him a goat but ends up sparing the goat's life (and, presumably, becomes a vegetarian) when the goat eats the weeds in his garden. The generically Asian-themed illustrations add some atmosphere to this inventive (though abstruse) version. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The familiar tale of the boy who cried wolf is relocated to Japan and given a twist at the end. When the wolf grows too old to chase down his food, he turns to gardening. One day, while grousing about the weeding, he hears someone calling him, and in the hopes that it's to share some supper, off he creaks toward the noise. Readers see the age-old story played out from the wolf's point of view, until finally, he finds himself alone with the boy and his goats, and buys the boy some credibility by demanding one of the herd. Rocco makes the most of his setting, creating lush, blossom-filled backgrounds and giving the cranky old wolf a handsome silk tunic and an umbrella. The striking design varies full- or double-page spreads with white space, across which blossoms float and goats wander; figures in the foreground frequently break the frame, thrusting foliage and characters directly into the reader's space. And the twist? Once the wolf gets the goat home, he discovers that a goat can be a welcome presence in a weedy garden. Good-humored fun all around. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
