Module 9: Where's the Big Bad Wolf? by Eileen Christelow

Book Summary: Detective Doggedly always seems to be on the search for the Big Bad Wolf. When the three Pigs' house keeps getting blown down, he has a good idea about who is behind it but he never seems to catch the perp. Thanks to the help of some old cows, though, the detective finds who he is looking for.

APA Citation: Christelow, E. (2002). Where's the big bad wolf? New York, NY: Clarion Books.

Impressions: This was a cute mystery children's book that was also a retelling of the Three Little Pigs. In it, Detective Doggedly is on the search to capture the Big Bad Wolf from knocking the Three Pigs' homes down. But the Big Bad Wolf always seems to get away in the knick of time.

The story isn't new but the element of making it a mystery is a fun take on a well-known story. Children will love the cartoons and spotting the Wolf before Detective Doggedly does.

The drawings were what made the book for me. They were funny and do a great job of telling and adding to the story. I loved the Cow neighbors who always have the Pigs' best interests at heart. Detective Doggedly being a somewhat bumbling detective is a cute introduction for young readers to the mystery genre as well.

Professional Review: 

KIRKUS REVIEW
Three little pigs get some real bad advice from a wolf in a real goofy sheep disguise in this comical whodunit. The three little pigs are having their homes blown down—and escaping by the hair of their chinny-chin-chins—and Detective Doggedly believes it might be the work of the shiftless, no-account neighborhood wolf, the infamous BBW. But the only character found at the crime scenes is a newcomer to town: Esmeralda the sheep. Sure, kids will note, Esmeralda their foot, for her disguise is pretty transparent. She has also been giving the pigs construction ideas: straw is good, twigs are good, and cardboard’s not bad. Two cows suggest a brick house, which foils the wolf and ends in his unveiling and incarceration. Short-term incarceration, that is, as he’s soon back, this time tricked out as a horse, with more self-serving recommendations: “Pick peas after midnight, when everybody is asleep. They’ll taste sweeter.” So what if there are a few inexplicables here—How did the wolf con his way into that hospital bed?—this is good clownish fun, and the rough-and-tumble art keeps the farce bubbling. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Review. (2002). [Review of the book Where's the big bad wolf by E. Christelow]. Kirkus Review. Retrieved March 29, 2015 from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/eileen-christelow/wheres-the-big-bad-wolf/.

Library Uses: I would use this in a story time or on a display about fairy tales and fables.