To the horror of his hairy parents, Little Good Wolf cleans his room, brushes his teeth, and plays with piggies rather than eating them. So off he goes to the Big Bad School for reprogramming. But to the disgust of the school's snorting "Prince A. Bull" (get it?), the new student soon has the whole faculty eating out of his little paw, and he's out on his cute, furry tail. How can he ever get his parents to love him? Enter Old Hag, with a special apple: "One bite and good turns to bad." It works the other way too though, she warns, which perches the wolfling on the horns of a dilemma. Giving themselves a cameo as evil stepsisters, the Stevens sisters gleefully tweak another favorite folktale caricature. For all his expressed desire to please, Little Good Wolf radiates smiling self-confidence in the pictures, and is plainly good to the bone. Readers will applaud both his gift for derailing set lesson plans and his ultimate solution, which is at once satisfying and open ended.

Little Good Wolf is menace-free: well-mannered, tidy, and hygienic. This frustrates Papa and Mama Wolf, who send him on the Big Bad Bus to the Big Bad School, run by (in a clever play on words) Prince A. Bull and with teacher Wicked Stepmother. In a series of lessons ranging from Basic Badness to Bad Behavior, Little Good Wolf's inherently kind tendencies dominate. He convinces Giant to play baseball instead of whomping him with a club, and he subverts the Bad Manners lesson by teaching Troll how to eat politely. Expelled, the wolf wanders the forest but eventually finds his way home to grateful parents who have missed their son and changed their ways. (Papa Wolf's desperate attempts to impress his son by combing his teeth will elicit laughs.) Both Stevens and Crummel have fun putting a new spin on traditional characters in this fractured fairy tale. In full-bleed spreads, Stevens animates trolls, dragons, and more with much detail and humor, and three vertical spreads emphasize not only the imposing staff at the Big Bad School but also the abiding love Little Good Wolf's parents have for him. The last page subtly reminds readers that happiness comes from being "different," "interesting," and true to oneself. And it features a visual joke (involving a red apple seen earlier in the story) that wraps up this satisfying tale with a wicked wink. Julie Danielson September/October 2022 p.71(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

What to do when your kid can't help but be good? Papa Wolf and Mama Wolf are concerned for their son. They've tried everything, but he still keeps doing good things, like taking baths and playing nicely with pigs! Determined to have him carry on the family legacy of being a Big Bad Wolf, his parents send Little Good Wolf off to Bad School. But the lessons don't go as planned. When instructor Giant threatens to "whomp" him with his club, Little Good Wolf suggests he whomp a ball instead; turns out Giant is a natural at baseball. When instructor Troll tries to teach him bad manners, Little Good Wolf suggests Troll savor each bite to really enjoy his meal. Eventually expelled, Little Good Wolf walks home in shame, just wishing his parents could love him as he is. In the forest, he meets Old Hag, who presents him with an apple that will turn good to bad (or the other way around). What will Little Good Wolf do? This fun inversion on several classic Western fairy-tale characters is full of laughs at all the ironic turns of events, with a wholesome message about acceptance and family bonds. The illustrations are sketchy and dark-toned, fitting the would-be-menacing aspects of the "bad" characters, but big smiles on many of those same characters, along with Little Good Wolf's sweet earnestness, alleviate the potential scare factor. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Not just good--great! (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

What happens when an irrepressibly good-hearted wolf is born into a lupine family of the big bad variety? Little Good Wolf, his mother says disgustedly, "cleans his room. He brushes his teeth. He even reads bedtime stories by himself!" So his snappish parents send him to the Big Bad School, a dodgy institution rife with bad puns ("Prince A. Bull" oversees the education), gross-out humor ("Eat it fast so you can buuurrrrp!" says a troll instructor, demolishing a pizza), and more. Throughout his lessons, Little Good Wolf makes suggestions that lend themselves to order and cheer ("You could light a cake full of birthday candles," he says to a fire-breathing dragon), quickly resulting in his expulsion. In a strongly felt fairy tale remix about a child who just wants his parents to love him as he is, all the over-the-top resistance Little Good Wolf endures makes his anodyne suggestions winningly palatable. Previous collaborators Crummel and Stevens (The Donkey Egg) cram each page with raillery and nonsense (when Little Good Wolf is happily reunited with his parents, they insist they've reformed: "I combed my teeth," Papa Wolf says). Stevens, meanwhile, brings naturalistic draftsmanship to the characters while draping them in a hodgepodge of finery. Ages 4--7. (Aug.)