Little Wolf's Book of Badness - Softcover

Ian Whybrow

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007317344 ISBN 13: 9780007317349

Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books, 2009

Synopsis

A new edition of the first novel about Little Wolf as he is sent to Uncle Bigbad's Cunning College to learn the nine rules of badness. Now published into the First Modern Classics list, fantastic stories for young readers. All Little Wolf wants to do is stay at home with Mum and Dad and Baby brother Smellybreff. Instead he's packed off to Cunning College to learn the 9 Rules of Badess and earn his Gold BAD Badge from his wicked Uncle Bigbad. He sets off on his journey, sending letters home as he adventures in the big wide world, Little Wolf's Book of Badness won an U.K.R.A. award for making an oustanding contribution to children's literacy; the Birmingham Children's Book award and the prestigious Di Cento prize in Italy for the best children's book of the year. It has been translated into ten different languages.

About this title

About the Author

Ian Whybrow's many popular successes range from picture books to novels for older children. Best known for his original humour, he always writes with adult readers as well as young ones in mind. He has a brilliant ear for voices, and takes pride in the fact that his work reads aloud very well. 'I loved being read to as a child,' he says. 'And I loved the sense that my parents were enjoying it too. For me, that's the acid test for any book - that there's something in it for everyone to enjoy.

From Publishers Weekly

A far cry from some of the wittier fractured fairy tales, Whybrow (A Baby for Grace) paints this picture with broad strokes. In letters sent to his parents, Little Wolf chronicles his sluggish journey to Uncle Bigbad's Cunning College for Brute Beasts in Frettnin Forest. He hopes to learn from his uncle the nine Rules of Badness ("Huff and puff a lot"; "Blow everybody down," etc.) in order to earn his BAD Badge and convince his family that he isn't a "goody-4-paws." Finally, the young wolf reaches his uncle's school, devoid of students ("I am so frightfully frightening, they all fled and flew away!" explains the former educator), and the grouchy beast eventually expels Little Wolf. Befriended by a pack of Cub Scouts, the little fellow is at long last awarded a badgeAalbeit not the one he left home to earn. The expected fixtures are all here: the uncle unsuccessfully huffs and puffs to try to blow down the scouts' tents and disguises himself as Little Red Riding Hood's granny. Fans of Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants series may be amused by some of the bathroom humor (Little Wolf returns from the camp with three cans of baked beans, which Uncle Bigbad greedily devours and which hasten his demise when his proximity to the fire causes him to explode), but much of Pilkey's winning originality is missing here. Ross's understated, childlike black-and-white sketches offer a welcome counter to the obvious text but can't completely bail out this lame spoof. Ages 8-12. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0007317344
• ISBN 13: 9780007317349
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144