First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Wilfrid Lupano, Lerner Publishing Group, and Graphic Universe for providing Neo and me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

As my son, Neo, and I expand our reading horizons, we looked to Wilfrid Lupano’s oddly named book about a wolf whose dressing style leads more to giggles and eyebrow raises than visual admiration. Those in the forest are enjoying their winter activities, including strolling outside and eating from massive pots of cheese fondue. When Wolf emerges (in his underpants), he proclaims how freezing ‘they’ are and rushes off. Worried, the other animals send one of their own with a warm offering, though this backfires tremendously and leaves everyone even more confused. It will take the anti-wolf brigade to raid the Wolf’s home and discover some of the reasons behind his strongly-worded proclamations. Somewhere in there, Wilfrid Lupano also layers in a moral for all to hear. Well presented with colourful illustrations, Wilfrid Lupano’s book will surely catch the eye of child and adult alike.

As Neo and I finished this interesting piece of children’s fiction, we were left with some strong sentiments. Neo thought the mystery surrounding the Wolf’s proclamations were highly confusing, which only came together (naturally) when Wolf, himself, spoke to the issue. He thought things became funny at that time, but not in too silly a manner. The story was a little long, though Neo thought it might have needed that to get the reader as curious as they needed to be. The pictures were thorough and quite colourful, pulling the reader more into the story and keeping things exciting throughout. Presented in a quasi-cartoon fashion, the reader has to keep their eyes on the page, as dialogue bounces all over, between drawn characters. A fun read for a child and adult (or older reader), which Neo thought was perfect for our time together.

Kudos, Mr. Lupano, for a great read. We will look for more of your work soon!

I still really love the concept of this tale but this leg of the journey fell flat for me. I wish there was more dialogue from the wolf himself.

Wolf and his underpants are back, this time during the frosty cold winter. When he starts mentioning,”They’re freezing” every time he comes to town, the stumped animals try to guess what is wrong. When a nosy bird eavesdrops on a conversation between Wolf and some small animals in the woods, the other animals think Wolf has gone off the deep end. Hopefully, a solution can be reached before it’s too late.

Um... no.

This is a book about a crabby wolf. It tries to have a message about consumption and resources, but even that doesn't work. All I can see is an adult wolf wearing underpants luring children into his house for their own "protection".

Do I really need to spend any more time unpacking what's wrong with this? Maybe it doesn't seem so odd in Europe, but in North America, if a man's walking around in nothing but his underpants and inviting children to his house, it's a big red flag.

This is not a children's book.

Not a great book, it shows a lively winter countryside seemingly lorded over by a vicious wolf, and anyone who goes to deliver succour to him (such as socks or a hat) is never seen again. Two things act against the piece for me – one, the fact that it all hinges on a mishearing which is supposed to be an amusing pun, and second, that the moral of the piece seems to extend from the reasonable 'lets all not prejudge each other, kids' to the ludicrous 'why don't we house all the homeless now it's cold while we're at it?!' I can't say I took to the busy, cartoonish art either. Two stars.