Beware of the Storybook Wolves

by Lauren Child

Every kid has some story book character that scares them--a wolf, a wicked witch, a creepy bad guy. Here at last is the inspiring silly antidote for that fear.

Herb loves to be scared by the wolves in storybooks--as long as his mom takes the book out of his room at night. When she forgets one night, Herb gets an unwanted visit. Stalling for time, Herb explains that little boys are best for dessert and Big Wolf and Little Wolf should start with an appetizer, like Jell-O! He seeks help from the stars of fairy tales such as Cinderella's fairy godmother, but not before things get very sticky. This is a fairy tale so artfully fractured it looks seamless and a message about creativity and imagination that any young dreamer would love.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Books About Books, Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Animals

32 pages, Paperback

First published May 28, 2000

About the author

Lauren Child MBE is an English author and illustrator. She was the UK Children's Laureate from 2017-19.

Child grew up in Wiltshire as the middle child of three sisters and the daughter of two teachers. She has always been interested in the many aspects of childhood, from gazing into toy shop windows to watching American children's shows from the 1960s. After attending two Art Schools, she travelled for six months, still unsure about which career to embark upon.

Before writing and illustrating children's books Child started her own company 'Chandeliers for the People' making lampshades. It was only when she came to write and illustrate the book Clarice Bean, That's Me that she decided to devote her time to writing and illustrating books for children, which combines her fascination for childhood and her talent for designing and creating. Child gets her inspiration from other people's conversations or from seeing something funny happen.

Her book I Will Not Ever Never Eat A Tomato won the 2000 Kate Greenaway Medal. For the 50th anniversary of the Medal (1955–2005), a panel named it one of the top ten winning works, which comprised the shortlist for a public vote for the nation's favourite. It finished third in the public vote from that shortlist.

Child lives in North London.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little boy finds he can pull characters out of his storybooks and interact with them. Seems like it should be fun, but never really takes off. Maybe it was that there were too many words on each page or that the art was just a bit too ugly. Oh, well.

[Reyhane · Rating 1 out of 5]

بد!
مثل باقی کتاب های زعفرانی انتشارات زعفران کیفیت چاپ و کاغذ کتاب خیلی خیلی خوبه و ظاهر بسیار جذابی دارد چنانچه امکان ندارد از چشم بچه موقع خرید کتاب پنهان بماند. کتاب 32 صفحه ست و چاپ اولش 10500 تومان ست.
اما چرا بد؟
ماجرای کتاب برای پسربچه ای به اسم هرب اتفاق می افتد که گرگهای کتاب قصه اش را در اتاقش میبیند و بعد طی اتفاقات بعدی پای پری نگهبان و سیندرلا و پری بدجنس و... به ماجرا باز میشود و از رامپل ستیلتسکین، هیزم شکن، هنسل و گرتل، سه بچه خوک، قورباغه هایی که ادعا میکنند شاهزاده اند و ... اسم آورده میشود که برای کودک مخاطب ایرانی، به خصوص گروه سنی الف، غالبا نا آشنا و گیج کننده ست. اینکه گرگ لباس جادویی سیندرلا را پوشیده و میپره توی کتاب پریان و میره به جشن تا با شاهزاده به جای سیندرلا برقصه و حالا سیندرلا باید تا صبح ظرف بشوره را بچه کجا میفهمه؟! خلاصه اینکه اشاره های فرهنگی و داستانی کتاب اصلا مناسب نیست.
ای کاش این همه ذوقی که انتشارات برای چاپ کتاب خرج کرده صرف ترجمه کتاب بهتری میشد تا پول منم خرج همچین چیزی نمیشد.
ناامیدکننده ترین اینکه کتاب توی لیست کتابهای لاکپشت پرنده ست!
نمیدونم شاید هم به سلیقه من نخورده! ولی آخه خیلی بی مزه بود

[Alura Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes i am adding it. It got me a job.

[Claire jobbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always been a fan of Lauren Child, so when I saw this book I thought great, another classic! However, I was slightly disappointed with the overall writing. Child's books often engage us as a reader and make us laugh but this book doesn't engage me as effectively as usual. The writing is effective in the way it follows the characters and bound to certain illustrations as well as changing for each character, but it doesn't include the usual fun that the others do. However, this book does have its good qualities with its introduction to postmodernist styles that relate to fairy tales and the theme of children's fears coming to life. The story itself is very clever, making characters from all the popular fairy tales come to life and know of eachother. Overall, I do like the storyline of this book and the illustrations are just as effective as all the other Lauren Child books but I think that the writing could be more enticing so that it isn't just for EYFS or KS1 children.

[Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered what characters in your stories get up to when you close the book? Well, wonder no longer! Just make sure to make your mummy take the book with her after your bedtime story or you might find that those big bad wolves (and the little wolf too) pay you a late-night visit! Where's your Fairy Godmother when you need her?

A really fun book (mine was a pop-up - not sure if others are) from the creator of Charlie and Lola. Possibly a little frightening for very young children, but generally funny, well-imagined and something both adults and children will enjoy.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why are wolves always the bad guys?!? In this postmodern picture book by Lauren Child it's no different although one wolf ends up taking the place of Cinderella, ball gown and all. Herb loves listening to bedtime stories but insists his mother take them out of the room before he goes to sleep. He does not want to take a chance of the characters escaping from the book, especially the wolves. One night his mom gets a phone call and forgets to take the book and that's when Herb's worst fears came true. But Herb is well versed in trickery and comes up with a quick plan to distract the wolves while he tries to find the Fairy Godmother to help. There are some funny mishaps on the way but eventually all of the characters return to the book....in some form or another. Herb makes sure they stay there too. He stacks all of the books and puts his bed on top ensuring a goods night sleep with no unexpected wolf visits.
I enjoy reading variations of traditional stories. The play on words and creative text are fun and engaging. This book would be a great read aloud for younger students and could be used in a lesson about feelings and problem solving. Even though Herb was scared he used quick thinking and with some help tricked the wolves back into the story. This book could also be used to make connections to other Wolf stories and discuss the plots or problems. Why do student's think the Wolf is always the bad guy?

[Eddie Rozzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based upon the consortium of story characters that exist in Herb's books, Child uses characters such as the 'Big Wolf' and 'Little Wolf' alongside fairy godmothers to provide a new perspective on common stories we've all heard in our childhood; eventually leaving Little Red Riding Hood to defend herself against an angry caterpillar because the wolf had called it quits for Cinderella's prince. As a teacher, I felt the drawings and change in direction of these story characters would serve as a great platform for a lesson on perspective, as well as discussing common literary tropes that exist within folktales and fairy tales. Along with providing a different take on the characters, the art style within the book correlates to a refreshing interpretation of the characters and the age old question of, "What if my books came to life?" Overall, I would suggest the book to elementary teachers looking to start a unit on narrative arcs and extending this further by having students emulate Child's re-creation of children's stories in their own writing.

[Gerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine what it would be like if characters from the books that you are reading jump off the page and involve themselves with your life ... well, that's exactly what happens to Herb after his mother had read him a bedtime story and then left the book from which it came on his bedside table.

His mother had read about a big wolf who terrified little girls and their grandmothers with 'his chilling growl and his big yellow teeth'. First of all Herb senses a horrible smell and then has a feeling that 'two, or even three, eyes' were staring at him. Then, when he switches on the light he is confronted by the big storybook wolf and a smaller wolf with a patch over one eye.

The two wolves talk about gobbling him up but Herb persuades them that they should not do that and when asked why he replies, 'Ummm ... because little boys are for pudding. You have to start with starters, of course.' An argument follows between the two wolves as to what a starter is and the little wolf eventually decides that jelly is a starter.

The pair therefore ask Herb where the jelly is and he remembers that he had been looking at jelly in one of his fairy tale books the previous night in which a fairy princess is having a birthday party. As the princess has fallen asleep, Herb slides the jelly off the page and into his life so as to appease the wolves. But, unknown to Herb, the wicked fairy from the story also comes off the page into the room and she tells the wolves that little boys are starters and that jelly is pudding.

Herb panics so he snatches up his book, finds the page where the fairy godmother is located and shakes the book until she tumbles off the page. She is not pleased and says that she is going to turn Herb into a caterpillar.

Herb persuades her not to do so and she spots the two wolves, commenting, 'Oh, no, not you two again. Always making trouble ... blowing people's houses down and gobbling them up without so much as a do-you-mind.'

The fairy godmother waves her wand and the little wolf is suddenly dressed in a ballgown that she was saving for input to the storybook to send Cinderella to the ball. The little wolf is so taken that he leaps into the book and goes off to the ball, leaving a puzzled Cinderella cleaning the kitchen.

Meanwhile the big wolf is poised to swallow Herb in one gulp but his extremely loud cry of 'HELP' alerts the fairy godmother who turns the big wolf into a caterpillar. Then, in a sudden twist of sequins the fairy godmother disappears. A relieved Herb, therefore, piles all his books up under his bed, with the heaviest on top to prevent anyone else getting out of the stories. He then climbs into bed for a good night's sleep, his fearsome adventure over.

The funny thing is that next time Herb's mother read the wolf story, there was no wolf to be seen, there was just a tiny caterpillar trying to terrify a little girl in a red coat!

This is pure fantasy but beautifully, and amusingly, written in the usual exciting Lauren Child style.

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lauren Childin "Miten satujen susista selvitään" (Pieni Karhu, 2006) on lystikäs kuvakirja pienestä Joona-pojasta, joka joutuu tekemisiin Ison Pahan suden ja muiden satukirjoista esiin loikkivien hahmojen kanssa. Childin kuvituksissa on sitä jotakin. Syksyn satutunneille.

[zack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a charming, funny lil' story.

[Bethany Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. I feel it would be really useful to use with young children in the classroom as it links to the story of Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella, which most children will already know. The pictures are bright, which would engage children and excite them when turning the page.

[Sandra Couch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary: Beware of the Storybook Wolves by Lauren Child tells the story of Herb and his love for a book with two scary wolves in it. Every night he asks his mother to remove the book from his room fearing that something bad will happen if she leaves it there. The night his mother forgets to remove the book sends Herb on his wildest adventure yet.

I enjoyed how the author put a twist on the traditional storybook fairy tales and how she made the characters interact with one another like when the wicked fairy comes out and tell the wolves that Herb tricked them. Ultimately this book caught my eye when I saw the front cover because we see Herb sitting on a chair looking scared and the wolf is behind the chair looking like he is going to pounce on him while licking his chops. I was left curious about what the rest of the book was about.

Plot: I think this book has two types of conflict, a person-against-self and person-against-person. I saw a person-against-self conflict because we know that Herb is internally afraid that the wolves are going to come to life if the book is left in his room. The text allows us to assume that he struggles with this feeling until we see the person-against-person conflict between Herb and the wolves when they emerge from the book. We know this is a struggle because Herb does everything in his power to prevent the wolves from eating him. We see Herb start to overcome these conflicts throughout the story.

Theme: In the beginning of the book, Herb is afraid of the wolves, but his fear decreases a little bit by the end. I think the overall theme that the author is trying to convey is that we all have fears / problems and that it is okay to have someone help us with it. We know that Herb is fearful of the wolves coming to life to eat him because he asks his mom to take the book with her after she is doing reading it because the book contains wolves. This hints at his fear that we find out later. We then see the Fairy Godmother help Herb get rid of the wolves by turning one into Cinderella and the other into a caterpillar. This very action puts Herb at ease as we see him pile his books up and stack his bed on top of them so they wouldn’t open anymore. This very action tells us that Herbs fear isn’t completely resolved and that we must act to ensure our problems / fears don’t return once it is dealt with.

Typography: The author uses text size and shape to emphasize the important aspects of the story. For example we can see from that the text is almost hidden in the pictures in order to draw attention to the illustration instead of the text itself. For example before the Fairy Godmother turns the little wolf into Cinderella her words are positioned as if she is waving her wand around on the page as if we can physically see her doing it. This allows the reader to focus on the Fairy Godmother instead of the text.

Vectors: The illustrations are mostly two page spreads with horizontal and vertical vectors separating different thoughts or actions within the same scene. For example when the Fairy Godmother falls out of the book we can use the horizontal vector separating the wall from the floor to connect that she is falling onto the floor and the two ideas. The horizontal vector suggests calmness and stability, which clues us into the fact that the Fairy Godmother is there to help Herb.

[Kaetlin V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comically depicting a fear that every one of us had as children, Beware of The Storybook Wolves by Lauren Child illustrates what to do if storybook characters really do come to life out of their stories. After Herb and his mother read a fairytale, two wolves come to life out of his book poised to eat Herb. To get out of his predicament, Herb’s solution involves a wicked fairy, a fairy godmother, and other storybook characters.

I was a little skeptical about this book before I read it because fairy tales included in these books are often cliché and overdone; however, Child’s picturebook gives a clever and fresh take on the idea of what would really happen if storybook characters came to life. Its colorful illustrations and unique typography keep readers on their toes until the last page of the story.

The plot of the story is different than any other picturebook that I have read because of the unique chronological order of the narrative. As a story within a story, it still is technically in chronological order, its plot includes taking characters from other plots to create an entire overarching plot. The unique setting is composed of multiple settings: an overarching setting of Herb’s bedroom in modern time and then the settings of his storybooks, including Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and Hansel and Gretel.

For visual elements, the page that strikes me the most is the big wolf trying to eat Herb. It’s very simplistic, yet it still says a lot for the story. All the pages are bleeds, which makes readers feel like they are directly in the story. For this page, it’s perceptual perspective is just a wolf, Herb (a little boy in pajamas) and the words “help” in between them almost acting as a vector separating the wolf from Herb. For structural, the wolf takes up the entire left side of the page poised ready to pounce on Herb, while Herb is much smaller than the wolf. The readers are looking directly at this happening as if they are directly in the story. The size of the wolf and Herb depict Herb’s point of view of the wolf and show how terrifying the wolf is. For ideological perspective, this page is interesting because the wolf is wearing a suit. As depicting the common middle-class, white family norm, Herb’s father is absent the entire book. Since the wolf is in a suit, it seems to draw parallels between Herb’s outlook on his absent father and the big, bad wolf.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lauren Child’s playful tale of a boy named Herb, who when left alone with the story Little Red Riding Hood one night, discovers that the two wolves have stepped out of the book and entered his room, makes for an unpredictable and refreshingly unique read aloud. Lauren Child plays with the conventions of traditional narrative by incorporating metafictive devices throughout the story including typographic experimentation, nonlinear text, unique design elements and the use of mise-en-abyme. For example, she blurs the traditional synergy between text and image normally found in children’s literature by creating text that simultaneously functions as image. Moreover, her use of pencil drawings and collage-style cut and paste illustrations are symbolic of childhood, freedom and imagination.

The use of intertextuality found throughout this book is also fun for young readers who are familiar with the traditional fairy tales. The third opening of the book truly plays with the idea of intertextuality as we see the back cover of the book Herb’s mother is reading to him. Child challenges the reader to make the connections between the back covers of the books—essentially creating a book within a book. Characters are jumping in and out of texts as Herb desperately tries to escape the wolves. For instance, we meet Lauren Child’s spunky version of the fairy godmother.

Her evolution as a postmodern author and illustrator is made even more evident through her later works, including the sequel to The Storybook Wolves—Who’s Afraid of the Big bad Wolf, as well as her version of The Princess and the Pea. Both of which I highly recommend. I would also recommend referring to an article written by Suzanne O’Sullivan in 2008 titled “Playfulness in Lauren Child’s Picture Books” that analyzes the entire body of work created by Child. The books mentioned above are a wonderful collection of twisted fairy tales that challenge young readers to engage fully with a text.

[Agapuci · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I really liked in the book is that it is highly intertextual. There are the characters of the cinderella, wolves associated with Little Red Riding Hood, the Fairy Godmother, the Princess, Hansel and Gretel (those are only mentioned) and the wicked fairy. I like this involment of so many characters in the book. The little boy, Herb, wants his mother to take the book with her as she leaves his room, because he is afriad of the content of the book. To me it is more like, metaphorically, that he is afraid of darkness and orders his mother to leave the light on when she goes out. The creatures emerging out from the book are just theresult of the boy's vivid and highly developed imagination. This proves that children are afraid of irrational things and they often imagine things which are actually non-existing. We also see the impact of books on little children. They are often afraid of what's inside so the books modify the child's mood and the way of feeling. What I found funny in the book is the final pages when Herb is sleeping on the pile of closed books in order to prevent them from opening. This is like all the kids who are trying to fall asleep but they are scared of the monsters creeping and lurking in the darkness or under the bed. However, what is missing in the book is the more profound message and a kind of a more sophisticated morale.

[Jazmin Maldonado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beware of the storybook wolves by lauren child was a good read. This book unconventionally includes the old fairy tales. Fairytales such as Red Riding Hood three little pigs and Cinderella with occasional "frog prince" references are used. The storyline is about a little boy named Herb, who after bedtime stories has his mother take the book, "... because there's a wolf in it of course!" When he and his mother forget to take the book out of the bedroom, two favorite fairy tale wolves are alive! The big bad wolf (Little Red Riding Hood) the little bad wolf (The Three Pigs). Herb goes through a couple books and finally finds help with none other than the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella. The story goes on a quick but crazy expedition leaving some storybook villains in different fairytales! The author captures the book as a classic with the use of pastel colors and real fabric like prints. The book consists of a full page bleed, no borders are included which in return draws readers in. The characters such as the fairy godmother are cut out, seem as if they are against the background insinuating freedom (they're being expelled from books!) Lauren Child has made it so that the characters aren't so traditional- great read.

[Zareen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is truly a treasure. It was most certainly a clever idea to write about characters coming out of the books at night!
It’s about a little boy called Herb who thoroughly enjoys books about wolves but equally doesn’t want his mother to leave the books out when he goes to sleep. One night his mother forgets to take the book out and, low and behold, the wolves in the story of the Little Red Riding Hood escape and come in to his room. He enlists the help of the fairy godmother in Cinderella and manages to change one of the Wolves in to a caterpillar and the other gets cast in to the story itself!
Now he does not feel scared of the Wolves as he sees them as caterpillars.
The book is very interactive as it has pop ups, which children very much enjoy.
The book also uses different fonts to depict different characters which are also thoroughly enjoyed by children as it’s easy for them to engage and recognise which characters are speaking.
The illustrator has carefully chosen a range of colours to brighten the book.
Fantastic read, especially if you want your story time to be interactive!

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lauren Child did a great job! I love imagination this story created. Any child would get a kick out of reading this book and relate to it as well as make many connections. The illustrations were extremely bright, fun, and colorful; which indeed is great for the preschool age. The fonts were italic, bold, cursive, and plain to catch the readers attention. Overall, a very fun loving story by Child!

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Characters come to life in this story. The font of this text made it a little hard for me to read but my 7 year old enjoyed this book when I read it out loud to him.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 STARS

Cute and entertaining, though a bit unnecessarily long-ish and wandering in places. Not my favorite Lauren Child, but appealing if you like fairytales with a little twist.

[Sunshine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my fave!

[Andrew Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there exists a favourite time of day for curling up warm with a good book, for generations of children it's often been bedtime, especially if there's an adult available to read it to them. But what would happen if the book's characters decided to carry on the story, after mum has stopped reading and turned out the light? Herb is so scared of the wolves in his copy of Little Red Riding Hood that he asks mum to take the book out at night with her...only one night she forgets, turns out the light, and suddenly there the two wolves are, ready to gobble up Herb himself as he sleeps. Just like a jumbled dream full of stories he's read, Herb shakes the Wicked Fairy out of his copy of Sleeping Beauty, and the Fairy Godmother out of his edition of Cinderella, resulting in entertainingly unpredictable interaction between them which leads to them all ending up accidentally in each other's stories. Lauren Child's night-time adventure into a child's imagination (rather similar to Raymond Briggs' 'The Snowman', except involving bookfuls of fairy tale characters instead) concludes with a wonderful conundrum: if all this excitement was just a dream, how come the characters remain mixed up in Herb's copies of the books sitting in his bedroom, the next time mum picks them up to read them to him? Child throws out the question to her young readers and their teachers: do stories really exist on the pages of a book, or only truly come alive inside our heads and imaginations? For children to fully appreciate this picture book, they would need to be cognizant with a variety of fairy tales, as others (Hansel & Gretel, The Frog Prince, etc.) are referenced during the story in addition to the principal three, but this also provides an opportunity to explore them or maybe revisit them in another picture book of their own. Child's Charlie & Lola-style illustrations are bold and colourful, using specific colours such as red or green to indicate danger or safety respectively, whilst a huge variety of font styles and sizes reflect different characters' direct speech: the Godmother's is ornate and flowery whilst the wolves' is bold, jagged and scruffy. They won the Kate Greenaway prize for children's illustration in 2001 whilst the book itself won the Nestle Smarties Book Prize in 2000, and there's also a sequel featuring Herb and a host of further fairy tale characters. Maybe the most important message is that to fully enjoy any book, we have to open our hearts and imagine that we're really there, and part of the story ourselves. As a role model of a young reader, Herb certainly does that.

[Edward Sojuwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Child (named Lauren) introduces YOUR child to a tribute to fairy tales with a new twist on what's already twisted. A young boy has his mom read him stories about fairy tale wolves. He likes the stories, you see, not necessarily the wolves. One day mom goes shopping, forgetting to take the book of fairy tale wolves with her and wouldn't you know, the book wolves come to life: a big wolf and a little wolf, the little wolf wearing a cool eye patch. Big Wolf wants the boy for a snack, Little Wolfie argues over who gets first dibs. The Boy counters by suggesting he be saved for dessert, and possibly try green Jello for appetizers. (Odd, since there used to be a punk band called Green Jello, renamed Green Jelly, who did a crazy tune about the 3 little pigs, who dial 911 to get the Lone Wolf himself John Rambo to blow away the Big Bad Wolf. But that's another tune for another time). Then the tale gets nuttier than Raisin Nut Bran, since out pops first the Evil Fairy who argues about the true definition of "appetizer" (she's wanted payback since two kids named Hansel and Gretel kicked the ass of her GF the witch from the Gingerbread House) and then a very clumsy good fairy godmom who sends Little Wolf off to the ball in a town meant for Cinderella (wow, talk about getting "wolf whistles"! Little Wolf cross dressing! What bravery!) and turns Big Wolf into a caterpillar, since caterpillars are nicer than froggies who bitch about being human princes. So does this fairy tale with a twist have a happy ending? Er.... yeah, just don't expect it to make this one a real classic. But it is a cute story.
Three stars
You'll wanna WOLF this down in seconds!

[Antonina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beware of The Storybook Wolves is a colorful book with illustrations that are created with watercolor, crayon, patterns, feathers, patterned fabric, and even sequins. They are also cut out, sort of like paper dolls, and pasted onto colorful backgrounds. They appear almost as if you could pick them up like paper dolls and move them around. The story is about a little boy whose mother reads his favorite book, Little Red Riding Hood, to him every night. The boy is afraid of the wolf in the story and one night the big bad wolf, with a little side-kick sneak into his room to eat him. Characters from completely different well-known stories, like the fairy godmother from Cinderella, are called out of their books to help out the little boy against the wolves. And the little wolf even ends up sneaking into the Cinderella story and changing the story so that he gets to dance with the prince. Read this fun, wild-ride of a story to find out how the little boy escapes being eaten!

The author uses a lot of different fonts throughout the book, switching from a script, to print, to bold highlighted words. The words become bigger when she's emphasizing something terrible is going to happen. To make the story fun, she makes some of the sentences appear at odd angles on the page. Since the script font is a bit harder to read, I think this is intended for older children who have taken cursive. But it would be a fun read-aloud book for children of any age.

[Mialynn Wessels · Rating 5 out of 5]

I decided to rate this children's book five stars hands down. Right off the bat I loved the illustrations, it reminded me of old children books I used to read. The characters throughout the book were so much fun and had there own unique personality that I loved. You could feel the emotion throughout the book which brought it a lot of identity and character as well.

This book is about a little boy whose mom reads him bedtime stories. One night the mom keeps the books in his room and all of the books come to life, and the little boy has to figure out how to get out of the situation using each books significance. It is very creative and engaging.

The illustration in this book is incredible. There are so many colors and interactions between each character that it makes you want to examine each page. Each page is full of color with little-no white, the illustrator definitely took advantage of the colors and emotions to build each page to express what was going on in the story much more.

I truly loved this book. I love how classic fairytales intertwined with each other and it brought back a lot of old memories of my childhood bedtime stories. I think the author did an incredible job bringing humor into the book as well as problem solving. Very entertaining and will be reading to my future class.

[Hannah Parks · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Beware of the Storybook Wolves," by Lauren Child is a fun, silly story about a young boy who faces his worst fear- talking storybook wolves, after they come out of his storybook one night. The boy tricks the wolves into not eating him, and calls upon other storybook characters, such as the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella, to protect him. After the night is over, he shoves all of his books underneath his bed in case any characters tried to jump out.

Lauren Child has created a brilliant anecdote about childhood fears and overcoming them. Being a child in a world where make-believe and reality often blend together can be terrifying, but this book displays courage and cunning in the face of danger, which is why I have rated it five stars. In the classroom, students could write a story about what book character they would bring to life and why. This book could also be used in a lesson on word play, as Child does an amazing job at incorporating playful language into her stories. This story could also be turned into a readers theatre and performed.

[Jon Fager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each night after Herb's mother reads to him she takes the story book out of the room to appease Herb's concern that there is a wolf in the book. But one night, she forgets to remove the book and sure enough, not one, but two wolves emerge from the story, threatening to eat Herb and his piglet-like toes. Herb is a quick thinker and relies upon characters from other story books to help him out of his predicament.

This postmodern picture book has multiple references to fairytales including Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. If children are familiar with these fairytales, they will be able to understand the humor in the book. They would also be able to make predictions about what characters might or might not be helpful. They could also infer how the original fairytales would change after modifications are made by Herb and the characters that help him.

This book contains British spellings and food references. The illustrations are amusing and incorporate vibrant visual texture of upholstery, sequins, stickers, wood, and other textiles.

[Ava Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is a postmodern picture books that brings so many stories to life and gives each one a new view. The main character enjoys reading fairytales before going to bed but is quite scared of the wolf from The Little Red Riding Hood. When the wolf comes to eat him in real life, the child must turn to his books to take things and other characters out in order to save him. It was really fun to see so many traditional characters interact with one another in such a new situation. The story really demonstrates how children can become attached to certain characters and how they see stories as real and an important part of their life.

In my own classroom, I would love to use this book as inspiration for how various characters that they love can interact in new stories. It would be a great mentor text when teaching writing fiction and helping students brainstorm from stories they already know and love!

[Arminzerella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Herb really likes scary fairy tales, but he's also careful to have his mom take the scary books with her when she's finished reading to him before bedtime. One night, however, Herb's mom gets distracted and forgets to take the book, and Herb wakes up to find not one, but TWO wolves slobbering over his bed. He tries to trick them, but his clever ruse is given away by a wicked fairy. Thankfully, he's able to convince the Fairy Godmother (he shakes her out of his storybook) to help him out, and one wolf winds up at a fancy dress ball while the other gets transformed into a caterpillar. At any rate, Herb is safe! An entertaining mashup of several fairy tales.

Excerpt:
The funny thing was, the next time Herb's mother came to read the wolf story, there was no wolf to be seen - just a tiny caterpillar trying with all his might to terrify a little girl in a red coat.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grade Level: Pre-k, 1-2, 3-5
Guided Reading Level: L-M
Lexile Level: AD 670L
*Note: This is my absolute FAVORITE children's book! Growing up I checked this book out every year at my K-8 and was gifted the book when I graduated. Its a tale of adventure and fairy tale that includes twists and turns like no other book before it. Lauren Child is one of my favorite authors for multiple reasons and I think this book perfectly captures the whimsy and tale every child desires growing up. The art caught my eye but the story line is what kept me entertained. *

Description: This fiction story follows our main character Herb as he sets in for an unexpected adventure. Every night Herbs mother reads him a story but this night his mother forgot to take the book with her and he receives a visit from the storybook wolves.. OH NO! Herb must evade our villains by redirecting their attention to buy himself some more time. Every page is a new twist and turn as we run into princes, princesses, witches, and fairy godmothers. Its a thrilling adventure with an ending you'll never see coming. I hope you'll read it yourself and see what kind of adventures may be hiding right under your own bed!

Teaching Tips: I have written lesson plans that integrate this book with the use of technology very easily where students must pull pertinent text to create a 3-D printed image that signifies their favorite part of the text or key themes. For 2nd graders this is an advanced text but works well for a free-write inspiration. The teacher can have students write their own spin off of the story or continuation of what some of the trouble or interesting things that could happen to characters in the book after the story ends. Students can write about their own fears or even just create their own fairy tale story! This is also a great book to have students practice their vocabulary by having students search for certain words and decode, define, connect, and pull meaning from the images. The text is overall very flexible because of the length and complexity for younger age students! I think that it perfectly suits student interest since it is not inherently girly in any way and meets the interests of students in different ways. I hope that you will use it in your own classrooms and share what ways you have adapted it into your own lesson plans!!