Baabwaa and Wooliam by David Elliott illustrated by Melissa Sweet

You may remember with Bear and Tiger in A trip to Panama there were two friends with different interests and skills who one day decide it is time for an adventure.  In this tale Wooliam is a reader ("There are not many sheep who read") and Baabwaa loves to knit ("Knitting is a very practical hobby for a sheep").  These two sheep are very content with life in their little caravan but one day Wooliam, who has been reading a book about pirates and treasure, announces it is time for an adventure.  Off they go! It is beautiful day. Which way should they go? Wooliam suggests they turn left. This means they end up walking in a circle. Eventually they stop for a bite of fresh grass when along comes a third sheep.

A sheep with a long rangy tail.
A sheep with a sharp, whiskered snout.
A sheep with a filthy wool coat.

Wooliam is not fooled. "It's that Wolf in Sheep's Clothing I've read about."

Wolf chases the sheep but then he stops with a question. "Have you actually read about me?"  Wooliam is happy to share his book but Wolf cannot read. The sheep offer reading lessons and Baabwaa will knit wolf a new coat. Can a Wolf and two sheep become friends?

There are some truly delightful words in this book:

rambunctious
lupine howl
outraged
chattercheeks

I should also make special mention of the end papers where you will see a trail of red wool with twists and turns rather like the funny plot of this story. This book should be included in every school library collection.

Melissa Sweet is the perfect illustrator for this picture book.  I adore her work. Go back and look more closely at the front cover. You will see the Wolf, the cute caravan and then notice the book Wooliam is reading - An illustrated History of Wolves!

Much of the action is set in frames, of both the hanging-on-the-wall variety and the graphic-novel variety. The characters are all highly expressive, and the graph paper and strands of yarn in the page design add to the nonstop merriment.  Great for knitters, for readers, for fun-seeking adventurers. Kirkus Star review

Sweet’s illustrations are charming, enchanting, and make it so easy to love this book from the moment you set eyes on the cover. Elliott and Sweet do an excellent job of creating characters we can all identify with and root for. Everyone gets to be both the sheep and the wolf in this story.It’s a fun way to practice empathizing with multiple perspectives. The Picture Book Review

My friend at Kinderbookswitheverything has a brilliant Pinterest collection of picture books that feature knitting. She also has a collection of picture books that feature wolves.

Here are a few titles I have talked about recently Moon by Alison Oliver; Bear and Wolf by Daniel Salmieri; Brenda is a sheep by Morag Hood; and I am so clever by Mario Ramos.