I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the pictures in this book, but the story wasn't a winner for me. It's really just mediocre.

I really liked this book. Funny and engaging, the pictures complement the text well, and it will certainly speak to parents as well as children about the some of the particular goings ons of bedtimes.

Mom is tucking her little rabbit into bed but the dialogue between the two is not very calming or comforting before he falls asleep.

"Mom, are you sure the wolf will not come?"
"Absolutely, my rabbit."
"But how can you be so sure?"

She tells him that the hunters have chased all the wolves in the area away and the remainder are hiding in the woods. Besides, if one decides to come into the city he'd be in grave danger due to the abundance of cars and the maze of streets he would have to travel. The wolf doesn't know the entrance code to our building, and he certainly doesn't know how to use the elevator up to the fifth floor. The persistent curious little guy is not totally convinced that the wolf may suddenly appear any minute. Oh my!

Then a wonderful twist happens at the end of the story that nobody could anticipate coming. Kids always love when the unexpected happens. (And so do adults... come on... admit it). Unpredictability is perpetually a winning strategy and oh so fun for the unaware reader.

The illustrations are detailed and full of emotion and activity. I recommend this delightful book that has been translated from French into English for your reading pleasure.

I can always blame the French translation. That is all I can think of. This is an odd picture book, that appears to be about a mother reassuring her frightened child that she is safe.

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Screen-Shot-2019-05-02-at-11.04.04-PM.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5132" />

Nothing wrong there. It is rather cute, really, all the reasons her mother tells her that she is safe

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Screen-Shot-2019-05-02-at-11.05.08-PM.png" alt="will the wolf come?" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5131" />

But then, the punch line is that the child wants the wolf to come. That the wolf is a friend, and all that hiding under the covers and shaking was for...what?

Sorry, so, as I said, perhaps something got lost in the translation.

The pictures are cute though.

Thanks to netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

During bedtime, a young rabbit asks their mother if a wolf can get in their house. Mommy reassures the young rabbit in every question. But the ending is very surprising.

Although I definitely understand and respect (even love) the concept of showing children that not everything we're afraid of is actually bad, this notion was very poorly executed in this book. It was so abrupt that I, as an adult, was a little confused; imagine how a small child would feel reading this.

Overall great concept and cute illustrations, but very poor execution plot-wise.

This was a strange one. It went from a story of a mother rabbit assuring her child that he was safe from a wolf because they live in the city to something else entirely. Somewhat confusing.

This book just has me confused. It's a story about a little rabbit who needs constant reassurance that the wolf is not on the way to their apartment in the city. Their mom keeps telling them all the reasons why the wolf couldn't reach them (it would get hit by a car in the city, it can't figure out how to use the elevator, etc.) and eventually just ends the evening with the equivalent of, "Because I said so!"

It's at this point that things really take a turn for the weird. What was, up until that point, a simple picture book about a mother trying to assuage her child's fears becomes utterly confusing. After going to bed, the little rabbit hears a knock at the door. So they run to answer it, excited that it might be the wolf. And it is! The wolf has come for the rabbit's birthday party. The rabbit hugs the wolf and they all have a party.

Sorry, but... I don't get it. Is the rabbit afraid of wolves in the first place? I went back and looked again, and they certainly seem to be. Okay... so why is it happy to see the predator at the door? If, on the other hand, the rabbit family and the wolf are friends (and the book just didn't tell us), the mother's "reassurances" are kind of cruel. Telling her kid that the friendly wolf will probably be hit by a car if he tries to come to the party? What kind of mind game is that?!

The pictures are nothing special. I did like some of the illustrations with the sneaky wolf and some of the city scenes, but the pictures weren't all that memorable for me. I think the head-scratcher of a story will be what I remember most about this one.

A great little book with a great twist, challenging perceptions, both for adults and children. The illustrations are lovely, the story cute. This is a great read for kids

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I have always enjoyed books that challenge set ideals that we have about the world and introducing such concepts to younger readers is a wonderfully rewarding. With a rather dry, ironic humour, Ouyessad and Badel's collaboration finds a little rabbit constantly pestering her mother, at bedtime, as to whether there are any wolves left and whether one could find them. Mummy rabbit patiently assures her inquisitive daughter that there are no more wolves and nothing to fear...but is she wrong?
In this beautifully-placed and paced dual narrative, Ouyessad and Badel present us with a multi-layered postmodern picturebook that is far cleverer than it may first appear. Children and adults will delight in Badel's cartoonish-Parisian setting and Ouyessad's all-too-familiar inquisitive rabbit. But what really makes the difference is the witty narrative play which says to the reader - not all stories have the ending you predicted.

I really like the idea of this story, and the illustrations are sweet, but there are some real issues with the translation.

I will be providing more detailed feedback in a private note to the publisher, but I cannot post an accurate and honest review based on this version of the book, so I will not be posting this anywhere else.

I don't know whether I should spend the next couple minutes laughing or just sit with this feeling of utter confusion until it passes. <i>The Wolf Will Not Come</i> by Myriam Ouyessad and Illustrated by Ronan Badel is ten thousand percent not the book I expected it to be. And, I imagine, there is very little likelihood that it will be the book you expect it to be, either. It doesn't even matter, if you pick it up, that you've read this review. Honestly, I don't think anyone will ever see this particular twist coming. And I'm not going to give any of you even the slightest clue as to what it is because, frankly, I can't decide if it was brilliant or stupid.

What it does come down to, though, is the fact that I straight up <i>loved</i> this book. I have very little reasonable reason for why I loved this book. I can say that it doesn't follow what I typically expect from children's books and that in and of itself makes the four star rating I gave it a rather rare occurrence. The author should be proud, honestly, for having gotten me to fall in love with what I might otherwise consider an incredibly inane story. But it's honestly one of the best children's books that I, personally, have ever read. Now, I don't know how much this book is going to teach a kid, but for once I am perfectly fine with it.

Little rabbit is lying in bed as his mother goes about tucking him in, asking questions about what would happen if and simply whether or not a wolf came. Mother rabbit, of course, continues to assure her child that the wolf will not be able to come no matter what, but as all children do, little rabbit keeps asking "what if" questions. All the while the artwork illustrates the scene around the room and also the questions about the wolf that the young rabbit is asking. And I have to say, those illustrations are quite beautiful in so many ways.

I think you'll be picking up a treasure if you decide to get this book. I imagine that there may be some who hate it, but I know that there will be some like me who, despite the ridiculousness, fall in love. And I suggest you grab it to find out.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>