The Wolf Who Fell Out of a Book by Thierry Robberecht and Gregoire Mabire
| The Wolf Who Fell Out of a Book by Thierry Robberecht and Gregoire Mabire | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: An interesting, and fairly complex idea for a story, with some fun illustrations to help little ones understand. | |
| Buy? yes | Borrow? yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: August 2015 |
| Publisher: Ragged Bears | |
| ISBN: 9781857144635 | |
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What would happen if a character from a story fell out of the book and into the real world? I'm sure this is an issue that many a Jane Austen fan has pondered whilst reading Pride and Prejudice, giving their copy an extra little jiggle to try and set Mr Darcy free! Here, however, it is the scary wolf who falls out, but he discovers that the world he falls into is a lot more scary than the one he's left behind in the book!
For a child's picture book this is quite a complex idea for a story, but it is cleverly written and drawn, so you can see quite easily how the wolf has fallen from his book, and you watch him through the illustrations jumping into other books, trying to find somewhere safe to hide away from the real cat in the bedroom he initially falls into. He does, at first, try to get back into his own book, but he keeps landing on pages where he's too early in the story, or too late, and so he gets kicked out again! We follow him as he attempts to sneak into a story about princesses, then another about dinosaurs, until eventually he lands in a story where he finds a little girl, in a red hooded cloak crying because, wouldn't you know it, there's meant to be a wolf in her story but he hasn't turned up yet!
I liked the story, and the way it's told. It felt a little bit like watching one of those French movies that's rather strange, but fun nonetheless! The wolf does have sharp pointy teeth, but although he manages a couple of scary poses, when you see how small he is next to the books he seems less of a threat. Actually, the real cat in the bedroom becomes the rather menacing figure, chasing the wolf away and bossing him about to make sure that the wolf doesn't release any other scary creatures into the bedroom! The illustrations are colourful and humorous. I particularly like one of the poor wolf, inside a dinosaur story, where he is being held by the neck by a large red dinosaur, stretched out by the tail by a green dinosaur, and up above his head is a drooling diplodocus! Poor old wolf!
This is an interesting and clever story, told in an amusing way. I think it's better for older toddlers, or those in the early years at school, but it certainly makes for a thought-provoking bedtime read. You might want to put your scary stories up and away on the highest shelves when you've finished this one, just in case anyone decides to escape!
Further reading suggestion: For more wolfish delights try Whiffy Wilson by Caryl Hart and Leonie Lord and Good Little Wolf by Nadia Shireen.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Wolf Who Fell Out of a Book by Thierry Robberecht and Gregoire Mabire at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The Wolf Who Fell Out of a Book by Thierry Robberecht and Gregoire Mabire at Amazon.com.
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