Wolf Won’t Bite

Gravett’s picturebook definitely contains a moral: don’t take risks with someone bigger, stronger (and smarter) than you. When three uppity circus pigs capture a wild wolf they think they have him tamed. They can stand him on a stool, dress him in a bow, shoot him into the air, make him jump through hoops and dance a jig, but wolf knows his opportunity will come. And it does, when all three pigs put their heads in his mouth.

Played out on a white background, this story of a grey wolf and the three pink pigs - ringmaster, strong man and dancer, denoted by their costumes, mostly in red – is a sure showstopper. Gravett again shows her facility for investing animals with a whole range of attributes by means of simple-seeming lines. And, her facility for making complete picturebooks is again evident; from the front to the back cover via the endpapers, the title page, the lettering, and all other bits in between, her expertise with design underlies but does not intrude on the reader’s experience. 

While this is one for younger readers, it does not lack the sophistication underlying her picturebooks for an older audience, and like them, will be returned to again and again by readers of all ages. And if you want to know the fate of the pigs, borrow or buy, or even beg if you must, a copy of Wolf Won’t Bite! You will have no regrets.