The Wolf in Underpants: Freezes His Buns Offby Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Publisher
Credits Grade: 5 Winter in the forest seems to have made the wolf cross. He keeps saying "they're freezing", but what is the "they", the animals wonder.This review contains SPOILERS because the ending needs to be discussed. It should also be noted that this was originally published in France. This story was great all the way up until the end. While I was expecting the wolf to be talking about his underpants being cold, I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was talking about lots of small, lonely animals, pushed out by the big business of the forest. So, then I was expecting everyone to come together to help without question. Instead, the animals that wanted to help the wolf (mostly, if not only, because they want a nice wolf and not a scary wolf) are upset and offended that the wolf wants them to help others who need it! The "helpful" animals say: "But what can WE do if all these poor animals are cold? We've worked hard for our big houses, and ...." I re-read that so many times, sure if couldn't really say what I was seeing it say. Wow. I did not expect this socio-economic turn. The wolf's response? A threat! And the animals he's sheltering take off after the others with fangs bared (regardless of if the species would have fangs in reality). Um, what? Why threaten and attack? What kind of lesson is this trying to tell kids?!? In the end the businesses run by the forest animals get turned into charity food pantries. So ... business is bad? The ending caused me to give a second look to things earlier in the story. Why did the animals of the forest not try to reach out to the wolf directly? The forest animals did notice others in need, and offered them paid work to directly interact with the wolf, but it reads a bit like Scrooge offering to pay the kid to get the turkey at the end of that story. Only the owl is not offered compensation. Is that because the owl had already helped the wolf in the previous book? And while the owl does the work, these other animals enjoy their luxurious cheese fondue right in front of the working owl. Then there's the bird who witnesses the wolf's kind actions. This bird chooses to spread misinformation about the wolf to insight fear. I don't understand what the bird has to gain from this. It's possible the bird has bad hearing and misunderstands things, given that the bird seems very serious and isn't shown to be a trickster or villain. But, a character like this does fit in the world of fairy tales, and this character is the reason behind the final confrontation with the wolf. The art is just as wonderful as the first book. I love the cartoony animals and their world. I was looking forward to this sequel, but now that I've read it, I'm disappointed. I don't understand why the author chose to go with such a storyline. Written: March 24, 2020
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