There Are No Scary Wolves

Yum's debut, Last Night, showed special insight into the perceptions of small children, and she demonstrates the same gifts here, using line, soft color, and collaged photographic images to portray a boy who longs to go outside ("This is the best day, and I feel absolutely big"), but who is suddenly overcome with anxiety, imagining, "Scary wolves are everywhere!" including the toy store and his favorite Chinese restaurant. "I'm too little to go out," he tells his mother, but with her encouragement, they venture out for their planned trip, and he finds that things are safer than he thought ("Next we go to the toy store. The scary wolf isn't there, either!"). Yum pictures the wolves as stylishly clothed, perfectly civilized figures, pushing baby carriages and carrying shopping bags; only their heads appear frightening. It's not chaos out there, she seems to say. Many small details lie in the pictures, repaying careful inspection, yet the overall feeling is one of space and simplicity, the right setting in which to examine the seesawing emotions of small children and their peaceful resolution. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)