How the Big Bad Wolf Got His Comeuppance (Clayton County #2)

In Wilke Pope’s wry reimagining of the porcine chestnut, a hardworking mother pig is forced to send her three beloved children “out into the world to seek their fortunes,” warning them against the Big Bad Wolf, who “had a reputation for huffing and puffing and blowing houses down to eat their inhabitants.” Forewarned, the plucky pigs thwart the hungry wolf in elaborate and unexpected ways, dusting him with flour, utilizing his breath to blow a house into shape, and blasting him with sound, forcing him to retreat to the comforts of a hot bath in an elaborate footed tub. Geisert’s fantastically detailed etchings, alive with twitchy lines, nervy hatchings, and dusty-hued washes, feature the woebegone wolf making his way through a chaotic rural landscape of wandering roads, ramshackle dwellings, and repurposed junk, and the convoluted contraptions of clever swine. Ages 5–8. (Aug.)