THE GREEDY WOLF

In this retelling of “The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats,” a hungry predator gets his comeuppance.

A mother goat leaves her children home alone just as the wolf is passing by. He attempts to gain entrance, first pretending to be a mailman, then telling them he’s selling ice cream. Each time, the young goats refuse to let him in. But maybe they’ll open up for a “talking rosebush with a flowerpot on my head.” Once the kids finally welcome him in, the wolf is sure he’ll obtain a full meal. But as it turns out, he’s not the only one with ulterior motives. This updated version fails to capture the spirit of the more elegantly constructed original, which saw both the wolf and the goats attempting to outwit each other, nor is it funny or clever enough to stand on its own. The storyline veers from one absurd notion to another without any sense of intention; it’s unclear why the wolf decides to dress up as a rosebush, for instance. Relying mostly on shock value, the conclusion doesn’t make much sense; it’s a subversive take on the original, but that will likely go over the heads of young readers unfamiliar with the source material. The scraggly, flat illustrations feel a bit sloppy but might elicit some giggles.

A lackluster, unfocused adaptation.