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Little Wolf And Smellybreff
Badness for Beginners: Complete & Unabridged
An wonderfully anarchic picture book based on the hugely-successful 'Little Wolf' fiction series Dad is teaching Little Wolf and Smellybreff how to be Big and Bad. 'GURR!' He scares the bridge menders away, kicks over their warning lights! and eats their sandwiches! Smellybreff is a quick learner; he is full of Badness. But sometimes Little Wolf is good by mistake. 'Why can't you learn to misbehave?' says Dad. Will Little Wolf ever manage to be really naughty?
Paperback
First published May 3, 2005
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About the author
Ian Whybrow
341 books37 followersIan Whybrow is a British writer of children's books, first published in 1989. He has written over 100 books for children, has been translated into 27 languages and is published in 28 countries. His books are humorous and range from picture books to novels, short stories and poetry.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 10, 2021
When I was a small child, this book would have shocked and horrified me. I was so very literal that I could accept no satire and would have considered this book contraband material for even suggesting that badness was an ideal state. Thankfully, my family did not discover this book until I was about twelve, old enough to pick up on the subtlety and find it hilarious. The story cleverly shows how the wolf parents' attempts to teach their children badness backfires on them, and the illustrations and simple text are delightfully humorous.
One of the most winning aspects of this book is how it takes a universal parent/child theme and turns it on its head. Every child can identify with their parents' trying to get them to be good and behave on an outing to a restaurant, but this book takes the familiar reality and gives it a twist: the parents want the children to be bad. Unlike some picture books which try to be funny, this one does not try to act clever for parents, but connects to something fundamental that all children understand and appreciate, mining humor from lifelike circumstances and making kids giggle over the twisted view of the reality they know so well.
One of the most winning aspects of this book is how it takes a universal parent/child theme and turns it on its head. Every child can identify with their parents' trying to get them to be good and behave on an outing to a restaurant, but this book takes the familiar reality and gives it a twist: the parents want the children to be bad. Unlike some picture books which try to be funny, this one does not try to act clever for parents, but connects to something fundamental that all children understand and appreciate, mining humor from lifelike circumstances and making kids giggle over the twisted view of the reality they know so well.
December 10, 2014
With such a cool title I expected this to be hilarious! It was just blah..I guess it is funny that the Wolves want their kids to be bad and one of the wolves doesn't want to be bad, he wants to be good...I guess it would be a good lesson for kids on consequences of actions---good or bad. It still didn't get a very high rating for me...sigh!
December 17, 2020
My kids favour this book over pretty much every other books we own and there could easily be over a thousand titles in their library. It is entertaining, a little gross, there is moral to the story , there are two catchy rhymes to sing and a whole lot of giggles to be shared.
September 11, 2022
A fun way to see that badness usually gets what it deserves. I like that Little Wolf tries so hard, but it's just not in his nature to be bad. I would enjoy seeing more stories of this family.
November 14, 2013
Helen for www.bigbooklittlebook.com
My three year old seems to have a bit of a fascination with big, bad wolves at the moment so when I took her to the library she chose three books with wolves on the cover and this was one of them. I could tell from that front cover that this was the story that she would like best and so it has been!
The picture is of a graffiti-ed wall and Little Wolf sitting at the bottom covered in black paint whilst his brother, Smellybreff, sits at the top looking naughty with a couple of plates of food perched ready to drop on his brother. It is a perfect insight into Badness for Beginners as Mum and Dad Wolf strive to teach their little ones how to be truly naughty.
Much of the story is funny for young children as it turns on its head all those well used phrases we say to them, remember your manners, say please, don’t eat too much you’ll be sick! And so on. Smellybreff gets it straight away, but Little sometimes, shockingly, says thank you by mistake.
Mum and Dad take the young wolves out and on the way they scare people, make trip hazards and create a hole in a bridge, among other naughty things. Little is trying to impress his parents, but not quite hitting it! They go to a café and show appalling manners culminating in Smellybreff being sick and all of them getting thrown out. On the way home Mum trips on a trip hazard and knocks into Dad a hole in a bridge!!! The Little Wolves are excited about what their badness has brought about, Mum and Dad are rather quiet about it all! Need I say more!!
I had a good chuckle reading this and so did both my girls. The older one (nearly 6 years) really got it, the younger appreciated they were being naughty but did miss the point that it was their own badness that caused their downfall (literally!). But there was something in there for all of us to enjoy and the pictures helped tell the story and explain it to my little one.
Verdict: Brilliant naughty humour, a really fun read.
My three year old seems to have a bit of a fascination with big, bad wolves at the moment so when I took her to the library she chose three books with wolves on the cover and this was one of them. I could tell from that front cover that this was the story that she would like best and so it has been!
The picture is of a graffiti-ed wall and Little Wolf sitting at the bottom covered in black paint whilst his brother, Smellybreff, sits at the top looking naughty with a couple of plates of food perched ready to drop on his brother. It is a perfect insight into Badness for Beginners as Mum and Dad Wolf strive to teach their little ones how to be truly naughty.
Much of the story is funny for young children as it turns on its head all those well used phrases we say to them, remember your manners, say please, don’t eat too much you’ll be sick! And so on. Smellybreff gets it straight away, but Little sometimes, shockingly, says thank you by mistake.
Mum and Dad take the young wolves out and on the way they scare people, make trip hazards and create a hole in a bridge, among other naughty things. Little is trying to impress his parents, but not quite hitting it! They go to a café and show appalling manners culminating in Smellybreff being sick and all of them getting thrown out. On the way home Mum trips on a trip hazard and knocks into Dad a hole in a bridge!!! The Little Wolves are excited about what their badness has brought about, Mum and Dad are rather quiet about it all! Need I say more!!
I had a good chuckle reading this and so did both my girls. The older one (nearly 6 years) really got it, the younger appreciated they were being naughty but did miss the point that it was their own badness that caused their downfall (literally!). But there was something in there for all of us to enjoy and the pictures helped tell the story and explain it to my little one.
Verdict: Brilliant naughty humour, a really fun read.
August 3, 2007
With lively illustrations, catchy, nasty nursery rhymes and loads of mischief, this celebration of badness is a complete hit in our family.
Listen to our chat about this book on our JustOneMoreBook.com Children's Book Podcast:
http://www.justonemorebook.com/2006/0...
Listen to our chat about this book on our JustOneMoreBook.com Children's Book Podcast:
http://www.justonemorebook.com/2006/0...
September 23, 2008
I think children would enjoy reading about a wolf that has to try hard at being bad (and still doesn't succeed). They might also enjoy some of the very mild gross humor in the book, although it wasn't quite my thing. Still, a funny story to keep them entertained.
December 15, 2011
This is a cute story about some parents who are determined to teach their children how to be BAD. This backfires when the children become so bad the parents are hurt by their misbehvior, definitely humorous.
April 22, 2009
Humorous book about Mom and Dad Wolf teaching their cubs to be bad and the trouble it gets them into. Illustrations hillarious too.
September 30, 2011
Mom and Dad Wolf teach their two children how to be "bad."
I thought this would be a fun, silly story but even my five-year old felt that the message was "wrong and mean."
I thought this would be a fun, silly story but even my five-year old felt that the message was "wrong and mean."
February 18, 2010
Little Wolf and his brother Smellybreff get a lesson in badness from Mom and Dad. www.hcpl.net
April 1, 2009
Too much subtly for a 3-year-old
January 13, 2010
Great story. My class loved it!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews