"Wolf Won't Bite" by Emily Gravett is a very short post modern picture book, and it contains the classing 3 pigs and wolf interaction. This book starts off with the 3 pigs putting up somewhat of a poster for their "show" which is also the cover of the book. The 3 pigs have captured a wild wolf, and they have taught it to do a lot of stuff, including jump through hoops, stand on a tiny stool, and ride him like a horse, but for some reason, the wolf won't bite the pigs. Each page goes on to show in the illustrations and in the text, what the 3 pigs can do with the wolf. On the last page, they tell the reader that they can even put their heads in the wolves mouths, but it still won't bite. As the pigs say that, the wolf ends up biting down, and they wolf starts the chase the pigs. That is the end of the book, and there is no plot structure in this book really. It is more of a flatline plot, which can be just an entertaining as plots with climaxes, but I failed to find the entertainment and enjoyment in this book. I thought this book was very boring and it didn't necessarily teach a lesson (not one that I could find, anyway) and it just wasn't very exciting or interesting to read. The one thing that I did enjoy about this book, was it felt like the 3 pigs were directly talking to me. The book really does a nice job of creating this interesting interaction between the characters and the reader. Also, I enjoyed the illustrations and the style of text in this book. The illustrations lay on a white background, and I like this style of illustration because it makes the drawings pop, and there is no background to distract the reader. Also, the illustrations are very fun and enjoyable to look at. The way that the author/illustrator incorporated text into the story was also very interesting. There are many times in the book where the text alone kind of shows whats going on in the story. For example, on the page where the pig says they can shoot the wolf through the air, the text is going from small to big, following the wolf as he is being shot through the cannon. I thought that was a very nice touch, and it makes the book that much more enjoyable to read. Wolf Won't Bite shows the three little pigs who have captured the big bad wolf and are parading him around a circus, forcing him to do various tricks. The pigs believe that "wolf won't bite" after every trick, but at the end, he escapes and does in fact attempt to bite them. The illustrations in this book are fabulous, and children will enjoy seeing familiar fable characters in a new setting. At first, I didn't quite get the ending, but realized that it teaches children that everyone has a breaking point, and that mistreating someone will always come back to "bite" you, which is a good lesson to learn.I would recommend this book as a read-aloud for both primary students. It would also be appropriate as part of an intermediate LA fairy-tale or point-of-view unit.
