Lone wolf on vacation

Lone Wolf (Lone Wolf: Gets a Pet and Lone Wolf: Goes to School, both rev. 3/25) is back with two new misadventures. In the first, Wolf, whose energy is Oscar the Grouch meets Wile E. Coyote, wants to return a library book without running into the noisy kids at storytime. In the second, he goes on vacation hoping to evade social interaction. As in past installments, Wolf manifests everything he hopes to avoid, and his limited vocabulary ("Grrrr") leaves him helpless to communicate effectively. Fans of the first two series outings will appreciate the appearance of recurring characters such as the eager girl and the jolly hiker toting his goldfish in a plastic bag, but each book's dry, off-kilter situational humor stands on its own merits. Steele's watercolor and pencil illustrations have a classic cartoon appeal. Spreads establish setting, while close-ups and spot illustrations focus on character and action. A sequence of illustrations in which Wolf tries to avoid a "snotty little boy" whose mucus subsequently befouls the library's book return chute is LOL funny, as is the look of horror on Wolf's face when the driver of a nearly empty bus proposes a singalong. These transitional readers will appeal to kids who like their humor with a heavy dose of irony. Adrienne L. PettinelliJuly/August 2025 p.105 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The latest in this early reader series finds the lupine misanthrope planning a trip. Wolf boards a bus in the middle of the night so as not to encounter anyone. Unfortunately, the bus driver proposes a singalong, and a young boy in the back eagerly chimes in. Once at the hotel, Wolf ignores the irritatingly cheery receptionist and endures an agonizingly long elevator ride with a chipper girl before finding his room--and discovering that someone's already in his bed! What to do? Wolf decides to nap by the pool until a bossy youngster disturbs his repose, urging him to take a swim. Wolf's exhausted. Maybe a hike through the mountains will revive him. Uh-oh. Wolf spots the jolly hiker, an acquaintance who somehow always seems to cross paths with him. Figuring out a way to distract the hiker, Wolf sneaks past him…and just keeps going, rolling suitcase in tow. He avoids the bus filled with singing passengers and walks all the way home, where a truly glorious staycation is about to unfold. The ever-apprehensive Wolf sports red-accented tennis shoes and his usual vexed expression; his protruding eyeballs register his stress. The color-washed settings are sometimes night-dim but sometimes sunny. Just as Wolf--mostly--maintains his sangfroid, the wryly funny text never loses its understated calm, with its quick, brief sentences describing our hero's travails as he skirts disaster. Human characters are diverse. Readers riding waves of amusement will howl for more.(Early reader. 6-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.