Description:
Max is a little wolf who knows exactly what he wants to be: a florist. His father, appalled, insists that Max will become a hunter, like every good wolf should. "But I don't like hunting," says Max (who, by the way, only likes "meat that you buy, but not meat that you hunt"). Poor papa. He has no idea what an impossible task he has ahead of him, matching wits with his single-minded young son: "If I don't manage to make you a hunter, my son, I'll eat my hat, I will!" This zealous carnivore consumes more than his hat before the week is through. As each ploy fails, and his son grows ever more resolute in his career goals, Papa Wolf finds himself submitting to his self-imposed penalties. Hats, pillows, not even Grandma's china is safe from this frustrated he-wolf. Not since The Story of Ferdinand has there been a character so sweetly determined to march to the beat of his own drummer. Unconventional kids with ambitions all their own will rejoice in young Max's self-knowledge and be inspired by his fortitude in the face of almost overwhelming parental pressure. And parents will be happy to see that Max never resorts to rudeness or tantrums to get his way. Martine Bourre's utterly charming illustrations are a perfect match for Marie-Odile Judes's warmly nuanced, gently repetitious text in their subtlety and clever detail: Mama and Papa's carved wolf bedstead, Max's ubiquitous toy sheep, and the sausages draped across the kitchen wall. We love this book! (Ages 4 to 8) --Emilie Coulter
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