When a Wolf Is Hungry

This is a story about a wolf who leaves his house to pursue a meal of city rabbit. He finds a rabbit living in an apartment building. He has multiple plans to capture his prey using a variety of implements but finds each attempt foiled by other residents of the building. The story and the wolf's growing ire are delightful and when read aloud with emphasis are guaranteed to delight young listeners. The language is simple but backed by fantastic artwork, the story really pops. A fun one to read. ( )

When a Wolf is Hungry by Christine Naumann-Villemin is a fun tale of Edmond Bigsnout's pursuit of a meal. He finds himself craving a city rabbit and is prepared to find and kill one to satisfy his hunger. Though every time he enters the elevator of his preys apartment building, he meets a new resident of the building. No matter what tool he's brought along with him to commit his murder, somehow that is perfect for his elevator companions day. When he gives up on tools and is prepared to just eat him raw he discovers the rabbit is on the roof. Also on the roof are all of his neighbors that Edmond had met that day and loaned his tools to. They are throwing him a welcoming party, as they think he is a new resident. He is so overjoyed by their neighborly display, and stunned by a beautiful wolf lady he abandons his hunt, his home, and his meat-eating to live with his new friends.
My 3 year old son and 6 year old daughter very much enjoyed this tale of Edmond. It was hilarious to them to see his plans fall through, time and time again. The illustrations were nice. I appreciated that they didn't bog it down with too much dialogue, you had to pay attention to the pictures to understand.
Thank you Librarything for the copy for my family to enjoy! ( )

This review is also published, with images, on my blog.

I've received a lovely children's book, today: When a Wolf is Hungry, written by Christine Naumann-Villemin and illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo. It opens:

One Sunday morning, Edmond Bigsnout, lone wolf, left his home in the woods with a great big knife in his paw.

Edmond had a hankering for some rabbit.

Not just any ordinary cottontail, though. What he craved was a grain-fed, silky-haired rabbit, one with just a hint of sweetness. A city bunny.

Edmond finds an apartment building where a likely meal lives, but forgets his knife in the elevator (where it's found by another resident of the building, who was in need of a knife). No matter, he thinks, and returns to his home, this time retrieving a chainsaw. But when he gets back to the apartment building, he encounters a bear who mistakes him for a new tenant, and just so happens to need a chainsaw. Edmond lends the bear his chainsaw and returns home for yet another tool... and so it goes.

Eventually, Edmond has provided all the necessary tools for a rooftop party. If you can't beat them, join them, so Edmond moves to the city and becomes a vegetarian--and president of the Good Neighbor Association.

When a Wolf is Hungry a a fun little story. I think I've usually enjoyed stories with wolves--Walter the Wolf by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat, or The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka, for example--I wonder if there's some connection? The art is very nice (you can see some more samples of it on the artist's web site)--it reminds me of I Want My Hat Back, a bit--and the story is satisfying.

When a Wolf is Hungry was originally published in France in 2011, and will be published in English by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers on 2017-08-07. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Disclosure: I received this book for free in exchange for a review. ( )

I received this book as part of LibraryThing's early reviewers. This book is about a wolf who leaves his country home because he's craving a certain kind of rabbit to eat - a city rabbit. He finds a rabbit via the directory of a random high rise apartment building and his efforts keep getting derailed as the residents of the building think he is their new neighbor & keep asking to borrow his murder tools. I think children will enjoy how the wolf constantly gets sidetracked, and the illustrations are excellent. I was a little "huh" after the exasperated wolf finally heads up to the roof to eat the rabbit raw and is invited to their party - and then the very next page is a picture of his for sale sign on his country house and he is also suddenly a vegetarian? Overall, very cute and I like the depiction of city living. ( )

This is a cute book for children. Despite the wolf wanting to eat a rabbit, you laugh at the frustration the wolf goes through to do so and cheer for him when he realizes the rabbit shows friendship and acceptance to the point the wolf turns vegetarian and moves to live in the building with his new friends. You may have to explain to a child what a vegetarian is and the meaning word famished on the very last page and why it is crossed out. On the second reading a child stated pointing out how the wolf's possessions were being used on the rooftop to the point we had to go back and find the color of his rope later used to hang lanterns. In short, a delightful book! I received a copy for review from Librarything's Early Readers. ( )