Max, the Stubborn Little Wolf

What if a little wolf told his father that instead of growing up to hunt and eat little animals, his fondest dream was to become a florist? In this French team's urbane reworking of the theme of the wayward son, Max stands up to his big bad wolf of a father without flinching: ""Hunting is nasty, cruel, horrible. I will never be a hunter."" Max doesn't want to be a vegetarian--he likes a leg of lamb as much as the next wolf cub--he simply would prefer to spend his time among the flowers. For the entire book, Max's father plots to rid his son of his predilection, but Max is proof against every ploy. The author pitches the book at least as much to grown-ups as to children; the father's energy drives the narrative forward, and perhaps parents will most appreciate the fellow's ham-fisted attempts to make a man, or a wolf, of his son. Bourre's ink-and-gouache paintings combine bristly ink-black wolf hair and whiskers with warm, incandescently lit interiors. Certain visual touches may strike readers as unmistakably Gallic, such as the pig in the thought balloon above the father's head, scored for carving la Escoffier, and the Provence-style country d cor of the wolf family's home. The ending of the book is curiously abrupt (is the father ever reconciled to Max's wishes?), but Max's spunk and Bourre's beguiling illustrations more than compensate for the story's shortcomings. Ages 4-8. (Feb.)