Common Sense Media Review
By Dawn Friedman , based on child development research. How do we rate?
Amusing, inventive tribute to fairy tale classics.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 4+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 1 parent review
What's the Story?
B.B. Wolf gets invited to the library storytime tea party. Will he remember how to behave?
Is It Any Good?
This picture book successfully riffs on the Big Bad Wolf story in a way that every preschooler will find amusing. Judy Sierra knows her audience, refusing the temptation to be too sly. But the illustrations have enough inside jokes that bigger kids (not to mention parents) will have a great time digging in to see how many mentions of other stories and rhymes they can find.
Speaking of illustrations, the swirly, saturated computer graphics are a perfect mesh with the story. Stylized and detailed, it's the kind of picture book that invites multiple visits to its pages. Kids will identify with B.B. Wolf's worries and will appreciate the addition of a new friend, an understanding crocodile who helps B.B. figure out how to comport himself at the library tea party. And there's quite a happy-ending payoff, too.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the many fairy tale and nursery rhyme references throughout the story and illustrations. They can revisit these with their kids, then go back to the book and talk about the clever way the author and illustrator have played tribute to old favorites. Kids can practice telling their own behind-the-scene stories. (If your kids don't know the stories behind the scenes, you can almost use this book as a bibliography for your next bookshelf tour!)
Book Details
- Author: Judy Sierra
- Illustrator: J. Otto Seibold
- Genre: Picture Book
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: Random House
- Publication date: August 14, 2007
- Number of pages: 40
- Last updated: September 14, 2015
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