LONE WOLF GETS A PET

Heavens, no, Wolf doesn’t need a pet for companionship: He’s still a proud misanthrope.

In his second outing, Wolf yearns for just one thing: jelly beans. But the whole stock has been bought up for prizes in a Best Pet competition. Wolf doesn’t like pets, but to score jelly beans, he concludes, he needs a special animal. Watching a hiker’s dog sitting up and rolling over convinces Wolf that a pooch will win him the beans. But his decision to adopt a dog ends with canid conflict. Wolf’s attempts to prop sunglasses on his adopted cat don't end well, either. Next, Wolf mounts a saddleless horse, but his sinister lupine smile makes the horse bolt. At the contest, Wolf opts to bring a goldfish. The other pets show off their paces: The cat gives a high-five; the horse hugs the judges. Wolf’s goldfish is trouble-free, but it doesn’t do a thing and doesn’t earn a prize. But the winner of the grand prize is quite taken with the goldfish…perhaps there’s a way for Wolf to get the coveted jelly beans after all. Refreshingly, Thomas lets Wolf remain his reclusive self—a choice that will readily endear him to readers. From the hiker’s lumpish dog to the grinning horse with a selfie stick and, finally, a blissed-out Wolf making jelly bean angels on the floor, the droll art contributes as much to this amusing story as the understated text does.

A dryly humorous celebration of solitude—and jelly beans.