Brother Wolf of Gubbio: A Saint Francis Legend

Some unnecessary embellishing reduces the drama in this adaptation of the legend of Saint Francis of Assisi's taming of a fierce wolf. Debut author/artist Santangelo begins with an explanation of the lone wolf's presence in Gubbio (he has been supplanted by a new alpha wolf) and the anthropomorphized predator's first kill (""The wolf was awakened by the rumbling of his empty belly. He saw a lamb and trembled with hunger""). The subsequent painting, rendered in inks and colored pencils on wood, shows the shepherd on a hillside of perfectly placed daisies, his face meant to express ""wonder and fear""; he kneels by a small pile of bones and wool near the wolf's pawprints. Santangelo casts the wolf as increasingly pitiable: ""He was only one old wolf, grayhaired and scrawny, but the people picked up sticks and stones and threw them, shouting angrily."" In so thoroughly soliciting readers' sympathy for the wolf, Santangelo makes Francis's extraordinary behavior (seeking out the wolf and talking to him gently) seem logical, not saintly, and the wolf's agreement to live in peace with the people of Gubbio becomes ordinary, not miraculous. In keeping with the more secular flavor of this telling, Saint Francis does not ask for the wolf's cooperation in Christ's name, as he does in most versions (the predator does, however, lift his paw to the saint's hand). Readers will find a more aesthetically pleasing and fluid presentation of the story in Margaret Mayo and Peter Malone's recent Brother Sun, Sister Moon: The Life and Stories of Saint Francis. Ages 6-10. (Dec.)