Wolf!

'This is the book, that caused the storm, that made them argue, that made them think, that rocked the school at Hoole.' This clever comment came from two of our Year Two reviewers and it is ... so true! Fanelli's extraordinarily original picture book really defies description. Ostensibly it is the story of a gentle, helpful and well disposed wolf who goes into town to try to find some friends but is met with alarm and aggression. The resolution is satisfying but this is a book which some staff and children found extremely disturbing, some found pretentious but others ranked it as seminal as Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. Fanelli uses a mixture of illustrative techniques in a surrealist fashion - collage, pencil drawing, stylised images with colour wielded almost as a weapon. These images are enhanced by a very clever use ('neat' as a Year Two reviewer put it) of a particular typeface throughout the book which creates mood through differing size, through playing with the text by making it slant, turn upside down, fade and even disintegrate. As a teacher I find this book stunning for how much it challenges notions of difference on all levels. It is not an easy book but one which deserves good teaching for it will leave a lasting impression on all those who share it.