The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse

The opening of this latest Barnett/Klassen collaboration (an original pourquoi tale) seems to presage dire events: "Early one morning, a mouse met a wolf, and he was quickly gobbled up." But once inside, the mouse meets a duck, who "lives well" in the wolf's stomach, with all the storybook comforts of home: a red-checkered tablecloth, jam and toast for breakfast, homemade soup for lunch, a phonograph. The mouse asks permission to stay, and when the answer is an enthusiastic yes, the two celebrate by dancing up a storm. This gives the wolf an awful stomachache, and he howls, attracting the attention of a hunter (who looks like Santa Claus in the role of a Hollywood lumberjack); the hunter shoots, but the duck and mouse defend their "home" by leading a charge out of the wolf's stomach and frightening the hunter away ("Oh woe! Oh death! These woods are full of evil and wraiths!"). The grateful wolf offers to grant his saviors any favor they wish, and..."Well, you can guess what they asked for." Cue a double-page illustration of the friends partying it up, back home in the (once-again-painful) belly of the beast. And that, folks, is why wolves howl. This is a delightfully entertaining mash-up of familiar storytelling tropes combined in a wholly original way. Barnett's language is both funny and rich (for those who remember the cartoon "Fractured Fairy Tales," that tone exactly). Klassen's mixed-media illustrations are concentrated down to their essences, with colors so subtle the art almost appears black-and-white at first glance; striking tableaux that seem to capture each moment at the very peak of the action propel the story forward. martha v. parravano