'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.

Re-Writing Little Red: I Am So Clever by Mario Ramos

It's a sunny day in the forest. A hungry wolf is lurking behind a tree, feeling a bit peckish, when he spots a petite child dressed all in red, tripping along with a basket.

"Hello, my dear! How fine you look!"

"Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Wolf!" she replied cheerfully.

Mr. Wolf is already salivating and formulating his dining plans for the day. He only needs to delay Little Red Riding Hood briefly....

"I am so clever! I'll be having a feast today.

Grandmother for the main course, and this little raspberry for dessert!" he gloated to himself.

But Little Red fails to fall for his faux warning about ravenous sharks in the woods.

"Oh, come on! Everyone knows there are no sharks in the woods."

But Little Red seems persuaded that her Granny would love it if she picked a bouquet of posies for her, so leaving her choosing some blooms, Mr. Wolf streaks through the trees to Granny's cottage, prepared to gobble her down without a personal introduction. But Granny is not in residence, so Mr. Wolf invites himself in. The first thing he sees is Granny's ruffled pink nightgown spread out on her bed, and in glee Mr. Wolf makes a quick change in his meal plans.

"Aha! An even better idea! The little cherry for the first course...

... the grandmother for dessert!"

All Mr. Wolf has to do is squeeze into Granny's gown and hop in bed to ambush the little appetizer. But first, the wolf, encased like a sausage in the pink nightie, decides to hustle outside to conceal his paw prints on the path.

It's meal time and the perfect crime--a two-for-one special!

But outside there's a virtual parade of passersby going down the path, and Mr. Wolf has no choice but to impersonate Granny for the hunter who's dropped his glasses, three little pigs playing chase, seven dwarfs hi-ho-ing their way down the path for a summer swim, and the gallant Marquis Montresor, who reigns in his stallion to ask directions to the castle where he plans to wake a sleeping princess. At last Mr. Wolf spots Little Red approaching with a fistful of daisies. Ah-ha! Time for a bite of brunch!

But, hoist by his own petard, Mr. Wolf's feet gets tangled in his ruffled disguise and he falls flat as he lunges for Little Red. THUD!

"I've bwoken all my teeff! And I'm twapped in diff terrible dweff!"

It looks like Mr. Wolf will NOT be snacking on the catch of the day after all, in Mario Ramos' parody of Little Red Riding Hood, his just published I Am So Clever (Gecko Press, 2019). Artist Ramos' perky protagonist gets the best of the would-be wolfish predator (who may be begging some pureed porridge for dinner from the Three Bears) in a clever comic comeuppance in this funny fractured folk tale of just desserts. Says Booklist's starred review, "a delightful and fresh retelling, a worthy addition to the fractured fairy tale canon."

The Starving Time: The Wolf~Birds by Willow Dawson

DEEP IN THE WILD WINTER WOOD
WHEN THE SNOW FALLS AND
THE ICY WINDS BLOW,

TWO HUNGRY RAVENS HUDDLE
IN WAIT FOR THEIR NEXT MEAL.

It is the time of year some Indians call the Wolf Moon, for the hungry wolves that wail from the wooded hills. Some even call it the Starving Moon.

A pair of ravens huddle together on a bare branch, their heads capped with snow, waiting for the sun to rise and melt the snow just enough to show where the burrows of seed-collecting little animals lie. One raven pokes her head inside, as deep as she dares, hoping for a bite of something hidden there.

And nearby a pack of four wolves has caught the scent of a buffalo. They give chase, but the powerful bison kicks out at the lead wolf at his heels, and the hunter falls, dead.

THREE WOLVES MUST SAY GOODBYE.

The three wolves move on, always looking for food.

THEN THEY HEAR A FAMILIAR SOUND...

KAW  KAW--THE SOUND OF HUNGRY RAVENS.

The ravens have seen something from their tree, a starving deer, limping and alone.

The wolves understand. They follow the ravens' call. The chase is brief.

ONE ANIMAL'S LIFE HELPS MANY OTHERS LIVE.

The wolves fill their empty bellies, and the ravens dart in to take their finder's fee. Then the ravens make their own cache for leftovers under the snow, and the wolves depart, carrying food back to their den where a mother is waiting, curled around her cubs.

THE STARVING WAIT FOR SPRING'S RETURN COMES TO AN END.

"Did you know ravens are also called wolf birds... because of the very special relationship they have shared with wolves," says author Willow Dawson, in her just published The Wolf-Birds (Owlkids Books, 2015). A powerful story of the cycle of life and the cycle of the seasons, this one also describes the cooperative relationship called mutualism between the clever scavenger birds and the predator wolves. Like black-hooded ninjas, the ravens of the far north act as spies for the wolf pack, infiltrating the woods, perching high and soaring over the landscape and leading the wolves to prey that the ravens cannot bring down but surely will share.

Life is hard in the far north, but this exquisitely designed and illustrated picture book's lovely style, limited palette, and fluid line has a stark beauty of its own. Even the visually striking endpapers reinforce the seasonal theme, opening with snow-drifted birch trunks and closing with budding twigs and new leaflets emerging as life goes on.

Dawson adds an explanatory author's note and a bibliography of her sources in creating this story.

Where the Wild Things Are? Weiner Wolf by Jeff Crosby

WEINER DOG SELDOM WAGGED HIS TAIL ANYMORE.

HIS TOY HAD LOST ITS SQUEAK. HE WAS HUNGRY FOR SOMETHING NEW.

LIFE WITH GRANNY HAD BECOME TOO TAME.

We first see Weiner Dog, dozing on his back, feet in the air, in his little plaid bed, in Granny's cozy little house, the picture of domesticated indolence. But inside, he feels doggy discontent rising. Granny dumps a can of the same-old-same-old in his dish and fills his water dish with the same dull drink. Ho Hum! Then it's into Granny's hand-knit doggy sweater for just another totally predictable day.

But wait! What's that on the telly? Weiner Dog feels his heart leap and his paws long to lope as he watches a pack of wild wolves streaking through a darkling woods. He hears the ancient call stirring deep in his DNA: AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

HE HIGHTAILED IT OUT OF THERE AND HITCHED A RIDE.

HE TOOK TO THE WILDERNESS IN SEARCH OF ... FRIENDS?

In the forest Weiner Dog finds himself the center of a circle of slavering wolves, the real deal, hoping that they will see his true nature beneath his man-bred shape. He sheds the sweater, his last vestige of civilization, and faces them bravely.

And he is accepted into the fraternity of wolves! His new water dish is a forest pool, his new backyard, the forest, and his new squeaky toys a litter of cute cubs to play with.

And he has a new name--Weiner Wolf!

Now it's time for that moment he saw on the screen: it's time to run with the wild wolves. Weiner Wolf becomes sleek and swift as he follows his new comrades deeper into the forest, taking a few shortcuts under the fallen logs that the pack leaps effortlessly in pursuit of a family of deer. At last the pack stops abruptly. This is the moment for which the wild wolf lives, the moment when the chase is done and he moves in for the .....

YIKES!

WEINER WOLF SUDDENLY FEELS LIKE WEINER DOG.

...AND WEINER DOG BELONGS AT HOME....

Jeff Crosby's just published Wiener Wolf (Hyperion, 2011) makes perfect use of his spare but evocative text and his beautiful cinematographic illustrations in a fine reworking of the old "back in your own backyard" theme, so ably executed in recent years in Avi's excellent novel, The Good Dog and Susan Meddaugh's comic Martha Speaks: Leader of the Pack, and a tale which recalls Sendak's classic Where the Wild Things Are. Jeff Crosby here has the right stuff, gorgeous dog's-eye views of Weiner's world, from Granny's sunbeam-lit cottage to the glades of the deep woods where shafts of sunlight spotlight Weiner Dog's temporary transformation in the wild. This one is a must-have for the year thus far, a standout that has all the components of a memorable picture book for all the right reasons.

As Publishers Weekly puts it succinctly,"This wiener's a winner!"