SLIS 5420 Module 9 - Mystery

Where’s the Big Bad Wolf

By Eileen Christelow

Bibliography

Christelow, E. (2002). Where’s the big bad wolf? New York, N.Y.:Clarion Books.

Summary

Police Detective Phineas T. Doggedly works at catching the Big Bad Wolf.  Every time he catches him the Wolf promises not to do it again.  The mystery arises when the three little pigs’ houses begin to be blown away but the wolf has an alibi every time claiming he is sick.  However, a certain sheep always seems to be in the vicinity, innocently walking by; or is he?

Reviews

Elam, M., Jones, T. E., Toth, L., Charnizon, M., Grabarek, D., & Larkins, J. (2002). Where's the Big Bad Wolf? (Book). School Library Journal, 48(9), 182

Gr 1-2 --A determined Detective Doggedly pursues the elusive BBW (Big Bad Wolf) in a delicious parody of the traditional tale. Three dim-witted and naive pigs, a wolf with a taste for unusual costuming, and three sharp-eyed residents of the nearby "Home for Elderly Cows" create a mystery worthy of the slightly befuddled detective: who is destroying the pigs' houses, when the wolf is currently hospitalized with mysterious flulike symptoms? Doggedly catches the culprit, but one doubts that this "egg-snatching, pie-pinching, chicken-chasing, pig-poaching" villain is ready to change his habits when released. Christelow's pen-and-ink and gouache cartoons show sticks and straw flying across pages, the not-too-bright protagonist, and a hilarious wolf in sheep's clothing. Characters comment on all the goings-on in dialogue balloons that add to the fun and humor. Pair this book with Jon Scieszka's True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Viking, 1989), another choice for lovers of fractured tales.

WHERE'S THE BIG BAD WOLF? (Book). (2002). Kirkus Reviews, 70(14), 1028.

Three little pigs get some real bad advice from a wolf in a real goofy sheep disguise in this comical whodunit. The three little pigs are having their homes blown dowry--and escaping by the hair of their chinny-chin-chins--and Detective Doggedly believes it might be the work of the shiftless, no-account neighborhood wolf, the infamous BBW. But the only character found at the crime scenes is a newcomer to town: Esmeralda the sheep. Sure, kids will note, Esmeralda their foot, for her disguise is pretty transparent. She has also been giving the pigs construction ideas: straw is good, twigs are good, and cardboard's not bad. Two cows suggest a brick house, which foils the wolf and ends in his unveiling and incarceration. Short-term incarceration, that is, as he's soon back, this time tricked out as a horse, with more self-serving recommendations: "Pick peas after midnight, when everybody is asleep. They'll taste sweeter." So what if there are a few inexplicables here--How did the wolf con his way into that hospital bed?--this is good clownish fun, and the rough-and-tumble art keeps the farce bubbling. (Picture book. 4-7)

My thoughts

This is definitely for a younger elementary audience.  The “mystery” is thinly veiled and a little cheesy.  I didn’t think too much of this book, but Pre-K through 2^nd grade might enjoy it.

How it could be used in the library

This could be used with an older group of students by paring it with various takes on the Three Little Pigs, such as the True Story of the Three Little Pigs to start a unit on fractured fairy tales.