November 9, 2020
“The moon was full,” writes Harkness (Bug Zoo). The moon also looks like it’s slathered in cream cheese icing—one of the many visual delights in this book created entirely from images of dimensionally modeled clay. The title character is a blue monster with spindly arms and legs, a triangular head and wild orange eyes, and a mouth that seems made for chomping rabbits, who peer up from hiding places in a landscape that puts off a spooky Wallace and Gromit vibe. “Rabbits, rabbits where are you?” the hungry Wolfboy demands as he stands atop a “creaky” oak in a forbidding forest, and jumps between the edges of a craggy ravine overhung with eerie clouds. But while Wolfboy sure seems like an incorrigible predator—one spread frames the long-eared rabbits through enormous teeth—the menace evaporates once the bunnies appear bearing a pie filled with moonberries. Turns out they’re actually good buddies who are used to Wolfboy’s hangry moods. It may be a shaggy-dog story, but the anticlimactic ending doesn’t disappoint—readers will feel like they have a front-row seat to a marvelously imagined and sculpted toy theater. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 3–6. Agent: Adah Nuchi and Rena Rossner, the Deborah Harris Agency.
Starred review from December 1, 2020
A hungry Wolfboy hunts rabbits in this visually arresting picture book. Harkness' note on the copyright page explains that the illustrations in the picture book began as pencil sketches to establish composition, and then he modeled the settings and characters from clay and photographed the scenes. The result is an aesthetic that sets this book apart from others in its achievement of a layered, cinematic feel. Blue Wolfboy himself appears more monster than wolf and would fit right in on Sesame Street. As the narration repeatedly recounts, he's "HUNGRY and HUFFY and DROOLY and GROWLY," and he's hunting for rabbits to eat. Readers will delight in spying small, yellow rabbits against the dark, nighttime backgrounds that Wolfboy traverses on his unsuccessful hunt, which is carried out with excellent, frequently all-caps verbs: "Wolfboy YOWLED and GROWLED. He CLOMPED and TROMPED." And at the book's end little ones will cheer the happily-ever-after resolution that leaves Wolfboy satiated and the clever rabbits safe and sound. Throughout, artful, expressive typography contributes to the overall success of the picture book, guiding the reader's voice to deliver a dynamic read-aloud that matches the visual drama of the art. A read-aloud treat for hungry audiences. (Picture book. 3-6)
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Starred review from December 15, 2020
Preschool-Grade 2 *Starred Review* Wolfboy is hungry. And he's looking for rabbits. He stomps through shadowy trees, sploshes through the murky creek, climbs trees, slogs through soggy bogs, and leaps over steep ravines, but can't find rabbits anywhere. By the time he marches into Moonberry Meadow, he is not only hungry, he's huffy, drooly, growly, fussy, and howly as well. When the rabbits finally arrive with their delicate ears and fluffy tails, Wolfboy crouches down and opens his mouth--to eat the special moonberry pie that they made for him. Harkness' impressive career in animation (25 years of experience at Disney) is evident on every page in the remarkable attention to detail, the cinematic and thoughtful framing of each individual image within the context of the story, the use of dramatic close-ups to heighten tension, and the satisfying message of friendship in the story's unexpectedly funny resolution. The text is delightful and simple, using repetitive variations that naturally encourage participation in read-aloud settings, but it's the exceptional artwork that truly makes this a masterpiece. Each spread--from expansive landscapes to deliberately cropped features--is painstakingly created with hand-formed clay and then photographed to yield textural and three-dimensional images with striking use of shadow and light that make for an imaginative and completely immersive reading adventure.
COPYRIGHT(2020) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
May 1, 2021
This quick-paced tale follows young monster Wolfboy on a journey through a moonlit forest in search of rabbits, for what must surely be a nefarious purpose. Humorous tension builds with each page-turn as Wolfboy continually overlooks the (not-so-hidden) creatures. The increasingly agitated little beast ("He was HUNGRY and HUFFY and DROOLY and GROWLY and FUSSY") finally throws a fit, prompting the rabbits to reveal themselves. A reassuring twist reveals that Wolfboy is in fact upset because they are late for their feast -- as opposed to being the feast themselves. All is well after the cottontailed critters share a moonberry pie with the hangry Wolfboy. Packed with descriptive language, punchy short sentences, and a deliciously menacing refrain ("Rabbits, rabbits! Where are you?"), the text is tailor-made to be read aloud; however, the book's illustrations, made entirely of hand-molded clay textured with wooden tools, steal the show. Harkness creates an immersive environment through an impressive range of perspectives, dramatic lighting, and a skillfully employed color palette. The majority of the environment is in brown hues punctuated with white, successfully portraying a nocturnal setting while also allowing full-color characters (particularly the Cookie Monster-blue Wolfboy) to pop. The hand of the artist is evident throughout the pictures, including countless thumbprints and smears, effectively celebrating the tactile nature of the medium. A simultaneously funny and relatable portrayal of big feelings, splendidly executed in clay and light. Patrick Gall
(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
January 1, 2021
This quick-paced tale follows young monster Wolfboy on a journey through a moonlit forest in search of rabbits, for what must surely be a nefarious purpose. Humorous tension builds with each page-turn as Wolfboy continually overlooks the (not-so-hidden) creatures. The increasingly agitated little beast ("He was HUNGRY and HUFFY and DROOLY and GROWLY and FUSSY") finally throws a fit, prompting the rabbits to reveal themselves. A reassuring twist reveals that Wolfboy is in fact upset because they are late for their feast -- as opposed to being the feast themselves. All is well after the cottontailed critters share a moonberry pie with the hangry Wolfboy. Packed with descriptive language, punchy short sentences, and a deliciously menacing refrain ("Rabbits, rabbits! Where are you?"), the text is tailor-made to be read aloud; however, the book's illustrations, made entirely of hand-molded clay textured with wooden tools, steal the show. Harkness creates an immersive environment through an impressive range of perspectives, dramatic lighting, and a skillfully employed color palette. The majority of the environment is in brown hues punctuated with white, successfully portraying a nocturnal setting while also allowing full-color characters (particularly the Cookie Monster-blue Wolfboy) to pop. The hand of the artist is evident throughout the pictures, including countless thumbprints and smears, effectively celebrating the tactile nature of the medium. A simultaneously funny and relatable portrayal of big feelings, splendidly executed in clay and light.
(Copyright 2021 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)