Wolfman is terrifying!
Wolfman is threatening!
Wolfman is unstoppably destructive!
And he’s coming your way!
But let me reassure you: Wolfman by Michael Rosen and Chris Mould is also so funny, you might just wet your pants 
On one level a moral about how those we demonise are human underneath, this wickedly enjoyable book about what can turn us into monsters is an enormously enjoyable book to read aloud. It’s thrilling and frightening, secretly appealing to many kids’ desires to wreck havoc and run wild, whilst (without revealing the brilliant final twist of the tale) drawing on a situation just about every child can identify with (one of Michael Rosen’s especially honed skills).
Chris Mould’s illustrations, with a limited and unusual palette, are sublime. Scary and scared eyes pop out everywhere and the scratchiness of the drawings befits Wolfman to a T.
Rosen’s story was first published 16 years ago and I haven’t been able to track down a copy to see if it was illustrated then, but Mould’s illustrations exude the vigour and excitement of the story in such a way as makes the text and these images seem inseparable. In fact, the penultimate page of this edition is one of my favourite illustrated spreads of the year; its drama and framing guarantees reader and listener will be holding their breath and scared to turn the page at that precise moment. (You’ll simply have to read the book yourself to see what I mean – it’s far to much fun to give the game away here!)
Attention to detail in the production of this book is another of its delights. From the name plate which encourages reading as a shared experience, to the die-cut “rips” in the front cover this is yet another great book (designed in such a way to support parents with dyslexia) from Red Squirrel.
Hair-raising and horribly fun, Wolfman is a riotously funny read, bound to be requested time and time again.
Once we’d stopped giggling and got our breath back J decided to make herself a Wolfman mask using a paper plate and some wool.
I cut out two small eye holes in the plate and drew the outline of large eyes. J then painted the plate with a mixture of poster paint and glue.
Having mixed in the glue with the paint, it was very easy for J to stick on lengths of wool all around the edge of the plate, as well as adding two ears cut from a brown paper bag.
J scrunched up the rest of the paper bag for the nose, added a few white paper squares as teeth and taped a bamboo pole on the back to hold the mask up to her face.
Then all that was left was to rush around the garden terrorising everyone 
Whilst J made her mask we listened to:
Smokestack Lightning by Howlin’ Wolf
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Here’s the Disney version:
Raised By Wolves by Barney Saltzberg (you can hear a sample on his Crazy Hair Day album here)
There’s also Radiohead’s A Wolf at the Door with an interesting Red Riding hood themed video, but perhaps neither the music nor the video are so young-kid friendly.
Other activities which would go well alongside reading Wolfman include:
Playing “What’s the Time Mr Wolf?”, a golden oldie, but with the same deliciously fearful anticipation as Wolfman.
Talking about the things that make us mad or irritable. I know I turn into something like Wolfman when I get really hungry!
Using a pair of toy glasses to give yourselves eyes just like the characters in Wolfman – find some with a black rim, and then cover the lenses with white paper with tiny holes cut out for looking through. The back of these toy glasses (found here) gave me the idea:
What makes you grizzly? What naughty-but-nice picture books have you read recently?
Disclosure: I received a free review copy of Wolfman from the publisher.
On Saturday, I took myself off to Manchester for the day, to meet up with some other illustrator friends and attend a lecture by children's book illustrator John Lawrence, part of the Manchester Literary Festival.
Many people may recognise John's illustrations from the spin-offs to Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. To my shame, I didn't previously know his beautiful work. It was Cassia Thomas who suggested the outing, as John was one of her tutors on her Masters course.
The space was a proper, banked lecture theatre, but Saturday was roaringly hot, and there was no air-con, so we got dreadfully stuffy up at the top. Fortunately, I had brought a fan with me and wafted myself throughout, like something from The Importance of Being Earnest!
The poor man was obviously very, very nervous, but it was a joy to be led on a journey through his wood and vinyl-cut illustrations. I had no idea that a modest, A4 size woodblock could cost £500! I think I'd find that stultifying, as I'd be terrified of making mistakes.
There was a lovely exhibition of children's book illustration alongside the lecture hall too, themed around subject matter. There were a lot of old favourites, plus some new discoveries. The only disappointment was that the illustrators themselves were not named!
The other main activities of our day-out were eating, gassing, shopping and getting lost, by repeatedly walking in completely the wrong direction.
A title to keep you guessing, eh?
Well, 'Mouldy' is fab author/illustrator Chris Mould, currently Artist in Residence at Dean Clough, a gargantuan, restored carpet mill, now a business and arts complex in Halifax. That's Chris above, in his studio space at the mill.
I absolutely love Chris's drawings, so it was wonderful to visit Dean Clough on Wednesday and see his room wallpapered in spidery, biro roughs.
The day came about because Chris invited author Caryl Hart and myself to give a short talk about our work to students on an art and illustration course, run by painter John Ross (he in the befittingly arty beret!):
After lunch, Chris took Caryl and myself on a tour of Dean Clough's galleries, introducing us to other Artists-in-Residence, who very kindly showed us their studio spaces and work in progress.
I was particularly taken with the gorgeous colours and textures in Doug Binder's paintings (his space was filled with that lovely oil-paint smell that reminded me of my Grandad's painting shed):
It has been a very busy, but smashing week: Monday in Nottingham, Tuesday in London (more later), Wednesday in Halifax and, as you read this, I will be at Ireby Music Festival in the Lake District. This time I will be in the audience for once! I packed a sketchbook though...
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Brilliant, as ever! What prodigious kids! I am always inspired to work by what they make and play at.
I’m looking forward to seeing this book, thanks for the introduction, Zoe.
Simone.
Thank you Simone!
This looks totally fab. AND Talk about the best Wolfman Mask ever!!!!