I Am So Clever

The hapless wolf, who stars in the late Ramos’s previous comedies, returns in this “Little Red Riding Hood” send-up. Bold ink lines and forest-hued wash put the pint-size girl across the woodland path from the wolf’s bristly fur and sharp incisors. In Burgess’s fine translation, they greet each other with commendable civility, then move into repartee. “You could meet some ferocious creature... like a shark!” the wolf warns, but the girl is sanguine: “Everyone knows there are no sharks in the woods.” Though Grandma’s not at home, Mr. Wolf slips successfully into her nightgown; amusement ensues when he gets locked out and encounters the rest of the fairy tale crowd. The three pigs, the seven dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty’s prince—each one has a word for the bonneted wolf. What happens when Red Riding Hood succeeds in freeing the wolf from his humiliating nightwear? Readers don’t get to find out, but watching a villain’s plans disintegrate is always a winning formula. Ages 4–7. (Apr.)