The Wolf, the Duck and the Mouse Hardcover – 12 Oct. 2017

This book is superb. Mac Barnett's way with words are peak here, I think. Everything about the story is perfect and incredibly well written. Jon Klassen's illustrations set the tone of the story brilliantly. They're set in a classical look, with loose edges and white spaces for the text, separate to the artwork, allowing everything to breathe - it would easily be at home in the 1960s or 70s. My favourite moment is the 'CHARGE!' scene, followed swiftly by an ending that is as thought provoking as it is silly. A modern classic.

Delightful bedtime story for 6-7 year old granddaughters

A quirky story from an imaginative author and delightful illustrator. Unpredictable and unexpected twists of events. A wonderful picture book that will satisfy the reader and listener alike!

I love this book. First came across itv whilst visiting the Hepworth Museum in Wakefield, where they have it in the children's seating area. My friend and I sat and read it whilst watching the river go by out of one of the Hepworth's huge windows. A great little moment all round. Had to buy it.

Y2/3

This is a brilliant book. We all love it in our household and I would definitely reccomend it.

This is a twisted fairytale, in the Roald Dahl style (if considerably shorter than that author's usual work). Right at the start of the story, mouse gets swallowed by a wolf (the worst thing he can imagine!), but rather than meeting his death, he meets... a duck, who has been happily living in the wolf's stomach.Mouse quickly learns that the thing he had feared was not really so bad, and quickly adapts to his new circumstances. Duck shows him that they can get all the food (and, presumably, furniture) they need; they simply tell the wolf what to eat, and it is delivered to them. There's clearly a nice allegory about facing your worst fears. Even though this went rather over the heads of my kids (3 and 5 years), my eldest appreciated the silliness of the story.From the parental perspective, the book has a charming 70's retro appeal, from the weird pastel-coloured paper-cut illustrations, through to the construction of the book itself, which is unusually opulent for a children's publication: removing the dust jacket revels a linen-lined hardback cover, with subtly debossed animal logos. You might consider this to be massive overkill for a kid's story. I disagree. I think it demonstrates a real love for the medium; another little detail that can let a child appreciate the advantages of a paper book over yet another iPad app.

The Wolf the Duck and the Mouse is a wonderful book, from an educator, a parent and a child's perspective, even if it's very different from the majority of brightly coloured children's books this is dark and a bit twisted but then so is life and this is a 'life gives you lemons' tale to build resilience and grit in the face of adversity coupled with an folkish tale of 'how the wolf got its howl' crossed with very dark humour along the lines of the illustrator Klassen's hat trilogy.Sounds complicated for a children's book- but my 4 year old LOVES it. the Wolf the Duck and the Mouse has been my 4 year olds book of choice recently, she has made everyone read it to her several times over, and still doesn't tire of the story.What I like about it is the hidden encouragement in the dark humour and the fable, Duck teaches mouse to make the most of the situation, after all THE WORST Has happened to Duck and Mouse but as Duck points out they may have been eaten but he has no intention of being digested and shifts his perspective to have a good life in his new circumstances... Of course we know this would not be the real case but suspending belief for a fable-like children's tale I can for a while. This is encouraging a growth mindset or grit in that there may be adversity but you can adapt and find a way to thrive and a good lesson for children that 'the end of the world' isn't necessarily the end of THE world, just the end of that world.Either way it's a very powerful book, but I can see it not gelling with logically minded children or those high functioning on the spectrum as the concept of a mouse and duck living in and then charging out of a wolf's belly is a big suspension of disbelief and the real world. However if your child is creatively minded and can deal with imaginative concepts and you would like to offer them a fictional way to engage with growth mindset and building resilience then this is a great and fun story.Thanks to walker books for the copy to review, this has not affected my opinion.