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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.
Review from Kirkus
“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.)