A VERY HUNGRY WOLF
Written and Illustrated by Agnese Baruzzi
minedition —Sept. 2020
978-988-8342-05-1
16 Pages   Age 2—4

Genre:  Children’s Board Book, Fiction
Themes: Flap Books, Animals, Hunger

 

Synopsis

This story is about a HUNGRY wolf.
With a quick “chomp, chomp.” he gobbles up
whatever animals cross his path!
That is, until he meets one creature who
makes the wolf rethink his diet altogether.

Lift the flaps of this hilarious board book to
find out who’s on the menu, and what happens
when one hungry wolf meets his match!
(from back cover)

Opening Sentences

“Once upon a time there was a very HUNGRY wolf. Along came a bird . . .CHOMP, CHOMP, don it went!”

Why I like A Very Hungry Wolf

A Very Hungry Wolf involves a wolf ready to eat. It thinks about dinner, picturing a place setting. Along comes a little red bird with twig legs and feet. Bird is directly under wolf’s long snout.  The wolf stares fiercely at the red bird and then snatches up the bird. “CHOMP, CHOMP.” Red bird feathers fly out of wolf’s mouth. Only the bird’s butt and twiggy legs and feet can be seen inside the wolf’s open mouth..

Ah, but the wolf is still hungry. The bird was not filling enough so the wolf goes to a forest and finds a surprised squirrel sitting on a tree limb, eating its acorn dinner. Wolf again looks fierce and shows tips of bottom teeth. It snatches up squirrel into its mouth and, “CHOMP, CHOMP.”

Readers flip a flap and are treated to the wolf’s open mouth. This time, the squirrel’s little bum and its long, fluffy tail are all that is visible. The acorn dinner flies out of squirrel’s hand and out wolf’s mouth, along with some tree leaves. Yet, wolf is still hungry. He repeats his journey finding animals for his supper and chomps down on a wary frog; a curious blue eyed, smiling white rabbit; and a peacefully sleeping hedgehog. The wolf crosses its eyes looking wary and hurt. Something is wrong.

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A Very Hungry Wolf uses playful, repetitive text, and colorful little animals to contrast the black wolf with its fierce, sharply pointed white teeth. The small animals don’t show any fear when the wolf comes so very close to them, interrupting whatever they are doing. They should be afraid; this wolf means business!

The illustrations are wonderful, but never in a scary way for readers. Children will understand the story simply by the art. They may be inspired to create their own text for each spread. That’s quite an accomplishment for an artist. When the wolf gets the animals into its mouth, children will be pleased to find only the bum (butt, rear-end, bottom) shows. This may be the funniest part of A Very Hungry Wolf  for children—what kids doesn’t like a good butt joke!

A Very Hungry Wolf will delight young children, especially when something goes wrong for the chomp, chomping wolf. The animals should be easy for young children to identify. If not, they will most likely learn fast with this witty story. The text is repetitive, perfect for children wanting to read by themselves. The words are all young children friendly. A flip-to-the-right flap reveals the wolf’s animal filled mouth. Children will love opening these flaps, made of strong, yet relatively thin, cardboard for sturdiness.

Young children love gifts of board books. A Very Hungry Wolf is the perfect gift for new readers. The book’s size is made for little hands to hold and fingers to open flaps. Children will also see a reformed wolf, now enjoying fruits and vegetables. If the wolf eats fruits and vegies, maybe a picky eater will follow the wolf’s lead.

Favorite Scene

I love board books with die-cuts, pull and push tabs, and flaps. I enjoy playing with books while reading them as much as most adults, maybe more. Because of this flap excitement, my favorite spread is every spread. With 16 pages there are eight flaps to flip, just enough to keep a young child interested, but not so much as to lose the child’s interest, or mine. mineditions and Thames & Hudson are two of the best creators of these board books.

Illustrations Rendered in digital.

Available at Amazon:  A Very Hungry Wolf

A VERY HUNGRY WOLF.  Copyright © 2020 by Agnese Baruzzi.  Published by minedition/michael neugebauer edition, Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong.

 

Copyright © 2020 by Sue Morris/Kid Lit Reviews. All Rights Reserved
[500—word count-review only]

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