Rabbit and the Not-So-Big-Bad Wolf

by Michael Escoffier, Kris di Giacomo (Illustrator)

Overview

No wonder Rabbit is so scared! The Not-So-Big-Bad Wolf is on the prowl. Rabbit draws a terrifying picture of the Big Bad Wolf on the blackboard. The Wolf appears and tears after the frightened Rabbit, who tries to hide but to no avail. At the end, the wolf provides a delightful surprise.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823428137
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	01/07/2013
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 11.50(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Michaël Escoffier has written many books for children that are published all over the world. He lives in Lyons, France.

Kris Di Giacomo was born in Brazil and lived briefly in the United States before settling in France. She has illustrated more than twenty books for children, some of which she has also written.

Editorial Reviews

…original…Working with charcoal and muted watercolors, Di Giacomo infuses her pictures with humor and feeling in a story that may confuse at first but will charm in the end.

The New York Times - Pamela Paul

Comic dialogues about the threat of wolves aren’t new, but this marshmallow-light creation from a French team combines familiar elements (scared rabbit, discussion of the wolf’s threatening features) in a novel way. It’s also blessedly free of snarkiness. An unseen narrator asks a mute white rabbit whether it knows the Not-So-Big-Bad Wolf, and the rabbit sketches a wolf with chalk on a blackboard. “No, that is the Big Bad Wolf. The Not-So-Big-Bad Wolf has small ears,” the narrator replies. A page turn reveals the rabbit’s amended drawing: the pointed wolf ears have been erased and stubby ears drawn over them (the smudgy eraser marks eloquently suggest the rabbit’s haste and nervousness). “Yes, the Not-So-Big-Bad Wolf looks like that,” the voice says after several more changes that make the wolf look a lot like a girl in a wolf suit, “and here it comes!” The hide-and-seek climax is fine for bedtime reading, and the “wolf,” despite grabbing the scared rabbit by its ears, lives up to its name. Neatly conceived and executed, with lots of giggles. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

"In offering three distinct viewpoints, this curious piece makes a splendid conversation-starter."—Kirkus Reviews
 
"The large, bold, mixed-media illustrations are pleasing to the eye. Di Giacomo's minimalist depiction of Rabbit is charming, and her raw style is appealing. A satisfying story that children will enjoy and most likely will want to read over and over again."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

PreS-Gr 3—Rabbit is asked if he knows the Not-So-Big-Bad Wolf. When he draws a picture for the unseen narrator, he is told that the ears are too big. The same goes for the nose and teeth. With each new description, Rabbit alters his chalk drawing until he hears that the Not-So-Big-Bad Wolf is coming, and that it smells rabbit! Hide, Rabbit! A ball won't do the trick, and neither will a stack of books. But when the Not-So-Big-Bad Wolf catches Rabbit, it gives him an unexpected, happy surprise. The large, bold, mixed-media illustrations are pleasing to the eye. Di Giacomo's minimalist depiction of Rabbit is charming, and her raw style is appealing. A satisfying story that children will enjoy and most likely will want to read over and over again.—Carol Connor, Cincinnati Public Schools, OH

School Library Journal

An unseen narrator slyly frightens a rabbit by describing the not-very-wolflike characteristics of an approaching wolf. Readers peer across a tabletop at a rabbit cowering behind the other side. "Tell me, Rabbit. Do you know the Not-So-Big-Bad Wolf?" asks the narrator, who seems positioned in the same place as readers. Ever silent, Rabbit draws a Big Bad Wolf on a wall-mounted blackboard while the narrator urges corrections: Not-So-Big-Bad Wolf has smaller ears, smaller nose, smaller teeth and longer hair than a Big Bad. Rabbit draws each change, while the rubbed-out chalk lines remain nicely visible too. Suddenly, "here it comes!" The chalk likeness appears decidedly un-lupine at this point, yet the rabbit flees in terror. Wolf approaches from the left of the page, showing only claws; Rabbit bounds to the right, diving behind a ball--"Not there. The wolf can see your ears"--and then a pile of books--"Not there. The wolf can see your tail." The "wolf," when it appears, is pretty benign, and the recently screaming-and-running rabbit reverts to expressionlessness. Escoffier's story demonstrates that things may be less frightening than they seem; however, edginess seeps in through Di Giacomo's rough scribble-style lines on rustic, pulpy paper, blank backgrounds that spotlight the chase, the wolf-suited (Max-like) child's grasp on the rabbit's ears, and some excremental evidence (recurring on the endpapers) of the rabbit's real fear. In offering three distinct viewpoints, this curious piece makes a splendid conversation-starter. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews

Read More