WHO LIKES WOLFIE?

Smiling at and singing to everyone in his attempt to make friends, Wolfie learns from Bird that his jagged teeth and howling voice are frightening all the other animals, but he makes a friend in a mysterious creature from the woods.

Kindergarten-Grade 3?Wolfie, a gray wolf, wants to be loved and accepted, and seeks help from a red cardinal. He tries smiling, but his sharp teeth frighten more than encourage. So he tries singing. His songs annoy the bird, hibernating polar bears, reindeer, and rabbits. At last, a beautiful white female wolf hears his song, and says that she finds his music "really, really nice." Trouble is, the words to his song are clunky and psychologically unsound?"It's so hard to be good when they think you're bad./They say I'm bad, and it's making me sad./I want to be good,/And I know I could?/But it's hard to be good when you're bad." The message is confusing and off-target. Nobody said Wolfie was bad, and he wants to be liked, not to be good. It's unfortunate, because the artwork is marvelous: funny, engaging, expressive animals rendered in intense winter colors. Turn to Fred Gwynne's Pondlarker (S & S, 1990) for a successful treatment of a similar theme.?Jacqueline Elsner, Athens Regional Library, GA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ages 4^-7. Who likes Wolfie? Hardly anyone. It has something to do with those razor-sharp teeth. But Wolfie is just a pussycat at heart. He sings a song about how hard it is to be good when everyone thinks he's bad. It's not until a fluffy white wolf, who can appreciate all of Wolfie's fine qualities, comes along that our hero begins to feel at home with his wolfishness. His new song? "You make me know I'm not so bad. That's so nice, I've stopped feeling sad." The story line jumps around and is even a bit silly, but there's something endearing about this. Perhaps it's the eye-catching artwork, thick paintings with elements so well defined that at first glance the medium used seems to be collage. Maybe it's the goofy song that Wolfie sings. Or perhaps it's just his big, toothy smile, the one with all those sharp teeth. Whatever, this story is for anyone who has been left out in the cold and then warmed by love. Ilene Cooper