The Little Red Wolf

Pros: adorable wolf, pretty artwork

Cons: some scary images

A little wolf cub is given a rabbit to bring to his ailing grandmother and warned away from an area of the forest where humans live. But little wolves, like little girls, don't always follow instructions.

I'm not sure how to describe the artwork. It looks like watercolours, with most pages having a slight fantasy look to them. There's lush greenery of the forest and strangely stylistic birds and bunnies. The wolves walk upright and have adorable cloaks. The wolf cub himself often poses in ways that show both attitude and emotion. The guard looks rather terrifying and there are a few scarier images though it's on par with other fairytales in this respect.

I liked the little wolf a lot. While he's portrayed as arrogant, he's pretty typical of a child who wants to show some independence but isn't quite as aware of the dangers of the world as he'd like to appear. He also faces some consequences for actions he chooses and has a dreadful moment when he's done something bad and is worried his family will hate him for it. I felt for the little guy.

The story is very much in line with other fairytales. Obviously this one draws upon Little Red Riding Hood, but includes some innovations to the story. You can draw several messages from it or read it for fun.

As an adult I enjoyed this and I suspect children will too.