Illustrations by Zachariah O'Hara
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Release Date: February 17, 2015
Found on their doorstep, the Bunny family has adopted a wolf son. Dot, their daughter, is the only one who realizes that Wolfie can--and very well might--eat them all up! She tries to warn her parents, but they won't listen. And how far is Dot willing to go to protect Wolfie, the brother who could eat them?
Again, one of those stories about a new sibling where the other child doesn't like the new addition. As I have said before, I have a nephew who went through this very thing, but I still question sometimes the wisdom of introducing such a book to a child's vocabulary if they aren't already experiences these feelings.
That said, I did absolutely love this book. I love that Wolfie is dressed in a bunny costume, like Ralphie in A Christmas Story. Dot's fears are not completely unfounded either. Wolfie is a wolf. There is no question that he is. None of this magical stuff where in the end it turns out the wolf was really a rabbit all along and that was how the other child saw them. No, Wolfie could very well gobble them all up. But he won't, because this is his family and he loves them and while he is still young, he needs them to protect him too. Dot finds herself rescuing Wolfie and discovers that despite there being some danger, she loves her adopted brother.
Even though Wolfie is essentially adopted, I definitely would not read this book to adopted children. Adoption friendly it is not. After all, it shows Wolfie putting on a costume in order to look more like his family. As a new brother/new sister issues book however, it works. Or perhaps it can simply be read as a funny story about family and belonging.
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