I checked this one out from the library for Valentin, my 6 year old, who thought the book was terribly funny when we read it together. Did he miss the dark edge? I'm not sure, but I know that when I handed it to 9 year old Paolo, who will still read a picture book if I suggest it to him or if the cover depicts a superhero, he got the joke. I watched as he read through the book once, then twice, and then after lifting off the dust jacket so he could see the cover below, read it a third time. As he was reading Mercedes (11) announced that she had read it too and thought it was clever, as did Aitana (12).
I think the appeal of the book is not just that Emily Gravett is dark and funny and brilliant, but that Wolves, like Weisner's Three Pigs or The Red Book, plays with the conventions of books themselves. My favorite image features a two page photo of the mangled red book cover and a scap of text from the book, with just that one word ... rabbits.
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