What's the Time, Grandma Wolf?

September 1, 2001
PreS-Gr 2-Even very young children know that wolves are "bad" in stories, and this one plays to that knowledge. The animals ask the title question loudly and move a little bit closer to Grandma's house in the forest as she answers ominously. She brushes her big teeth, scrubs out the very big stew pot, sharpens her big axe to chop firewood, and is clearly getting ready to cook. As a tiny duckling creeps into the house, the group asks the question once again, and Grandma Wolf raises her paws with a sharp knife and fork and shouts, "It's-dinnertime!" Young readers will shriek the first time but a page turn shows the animals all settling down to vegetable stew while Grandma Wolf reads a favorite story, "Little Red Riding Hood." Watercolors contrast the wide-eyed baby animals with the fiercely toothed Grandma but the safely scary story will not alarm anyone after the first reading. The pictures are crowded with bubbles, swirls, clouds, and details, making them difficult to see at a storyhour distance. The author based his story on a British game that's not well known in this country and directions on the jacket flap explain how to play it. Good fun.-Susan Hepler, Burgundy Farm Country Day School, Alexandria, VA

Copyright 2001 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2001
Ages 4-7. Grandma Wolf smiles with sharp teeth. A little pig in the background has his face up to his hands, reminiscent of Macaulay Culkin in the movie " Home Alone." The dust jacket illustration makes it seem as if a scary story is ahead. And why not? A big hairy wolf has moved into the woods, and all the animals know they should leave her alone. Curiosity gets the best of them, however; they creep up on her cottage and keep asking "What's the time, Grandma Wolf?" Each answer seems more threatening: time to wash the stew pot, chop the wood with a sharp ax, make the fire. But when she finally yells, "It's dinnertime!" instead of running, the animals sit down for stew and a read-aloud of Grandma's favorite story, "Little Red Riding Hood." Basing the book on the game "What's the Time, Mr. Wolf?" (rules on the back flap), Brown takes this game of tag and turns it into something quite delightful. The watercolor art is top-notch, with every character humorously distinctive. His depiction of Grandma is a particularly fine mixture of menace and sly good humor. A fun read-aloud.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)