Books like Wolves

Unfortunately, I had a very strong negative reaction to this book. I wanted to like it for being interesting and engaging and... fun. I think it is supposed to be fun. We are supposed to chuckle and appreciate. Instead, I was saddened and angered. Here is the story of a cute little rabbit who decides to read a book about wolves. As he reads through the pages, we turn the pages, and see him caught up in wolf fur (as we learn about wolf fur), surrounded by wolf legs and claws (when we learn about wolf claws), etc. It's as if we are in his imagination. It's a neat concept artistically. Indeed, it won the Kate Greenaway medal in 2005. (Thus the two star award.)BUT, the whole time I kept thinking... okay, surely we are going to learn some NICE facts about wolves. And, surely we are going to see that wolves are not the horrible, evil, murderous monsters that are portrayed in the rabbit's imagination (and in the illustrations). Surely that will be the "moral" of this story. Well, no. The surprise ending and the "alternate happy ending" do nothing to promote a positive view of wolves.I selected this book from the library a few weeks ago but hadn't got around to reading it yet--I'm a fan of wolves and hoped this would be cute. My timing in actually reading this book is ironic in that, over the weekend, I attended a presentation about wolf rescue. I learned, in depth, what I had already known superficially about wolves and the "bad rap" they have received for several hundred years. I doubt Emily Gravett has looked into a wolf's eyes, as I did that day. If she did, I am not sure how she could write a book that continues to promote a stereotype so detrimental to one of the most beautiful, sensitive and complex members of the animal kingdom.