'Tis The Season for Freezin': The Wolf in Underpants Freezes His Buns Off by Wilfrid Lupano

HIGH ABOVE THE FOREST LIVES THE WOLF. . . WITH CRAZY EYES!

IN THESE WOODS WE KNOW TO MOVE OUR BUTTS WHEN THE WOLF COMES DOWN TO EAT!

In the safety of the clearing, the newsboy cries his wares to warn the citizens.

"EXTRA! EXTRA! GET YOUR FOREST GAZETTE HERE!

THREE MORE WOLF ATTACKS REPORTED!"

From kiosks in the clearing, Wolf alarms and wolf-proof fences are advertised, and wolf traps are sold. Kids practice their anti-wolf karate, and the Anti-Wolf militia patrol the perimenter in full battle dress. Savvy vendors hawk hazelnut products as the edible antidote to wolf anxiety. Everyone is on the lookout for a wolf with tell-tale signs:

"HIS TEETH ARE LIKE ICE PICKS. HIS EYES ARE WILD!"

And then a rabbit runs screaming through the clearing, reporting the approach of said Wolf, except...

This one is wearing red-and-white striped underpants!

It's hard to take a big bad wolf seriously when he's wearing red-striped whitey-tighties. And Mrs. Owl informs the public that she herself knitted those underpants herself to insulate his backside from his icy-cold lookout rock high on the hill. Little Hedgehog says that this doofus can't be the wolf she's feared all her life!

THESE UNDERPANTS HAVE CHANGED MY LIFE!" INSISTS THE WOLF.

But It's hard to look friendly when your buns are frozen!

Humpff!

The crowd begins to disperse. It's hard to stay in a fearful frenzy when the big bad wolf is wearing silly knickers, in Wilfried Lupano's, The Wolf in Underpants Freezes His Buns Off (Graphic Universe, 2020). This second installment in this series continues to poke fun at underpants, with an easy-going lesson on remaining rational in the face of a baseless community hysteria. Lulpano's story owes much to the clever illustrations of Mayana Itiz and Paul Cauuet's humorously sinister main character who turns out to be a nice guy who's ridiculously proud of his snuggy underpants. Kirkus Reviews says "Lupano's message of kindness and perception shines without being cloying, making this quiet charmer a must-read." Share this one with its first in series, The Wolf in Underpants.

Eye of the Beholder! A Day So Gray by Marie Lamba

"Summer's lease hath all too short a stay," said Shakespeare,and he had a point. As the bright riot of summer shades fade into fall's muted hues, winter brings an admittedly limited palette to the landscape.

As two girls suit up for a chilly outing, one of them is feeling blue. The view out the window indeed shows few hues!

"This day is so gray!"

"No, it isn't!" says her friend.

The first girl points out that the field is blah brown, and so are the woods. But her friend makes her take a second look at the subtle shades to be seen even in winter.

She cites the warm brown of some trees, the deep red of berries clinging to the brown bushes, the purplish shadows beneath them. Her doubting friend persists.

"Well, this snow is boring white.

That cat is black."

But her perceptive friend points out the many shades of the snow. She says that the cat has markings of white, glowing green eyes, and a pink nose, too.

And when they come inside and warm up in front of the roaring fireplace, the picky girl says she hates orange. But then, there's the sunset, with so many other warm colors all together.

It's a day that is much more than gray, in Marie Lamba's forthcoming salute to the ways of bleak days, A Day So Gray (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Clarion, 2019), who shows how to "always look on the bright side of life" in the variety of different seasons. After all, the girl who hates the few hues of winter is really taking an overzealously black-and-white position on seasonal colors. Artist Alea Marley's appealingly vibrant wintry scenes and her charming little girls who make their cases well can speak for most of us who can, if we try, find something to love in all the seasons.

Hot chocolate, anyone? It's there, too, in shade and hue!