Wilfrid Lupano

I was not expecting this story. I was expecting a comical farce with a title Like the Wolf and Underpants freezes buns off. Instead I did get a bit of a farce, got a little bit of Beauty and the Beast, I got a little bit of sorrow, and a whole lot of happiness. This book is a great way to introduce homelessness to your children. It never uses that word. It doesn't degrade anybody or separate them out. It just points out that on cold freezing nights some people don't have a place to stay. show more This book is well and lovingly done and deserves to be in every library's collection. show less

It's all out class warfare as the factory-owning squirrel has the Wolf in Underpants locked up in jail for stealing -- because he has money when he doesn't have a job he must have stolen it! -- and general laziness. Having locked up the wolf in prison, the Anti-Wolf Brigade then proceeds to actually investigate the charges, revealing what the wolf does with his time.

As with the first book book in the series, the twist ending gives the book a clever and dark boost. It also continues the show more anti-capitalism present in the previous volumes, a theme that I don't often see in children's books. show less

The jacket copy of this omnibus edition of the five bandes dessinées volumes of Azimut commends it to fans of Terry Gilliam and Lewis Carroll. I can't say that I see the connections; beyond an anthropomorphic white rabbit there is little to suggest Carroll, and Azimut is not a portal fantasy. I felt like its particular surrealism had more in common with the sort of metaphysically-inclined whimsy in Jodorowsky's fantasies than Gilliam's.

Jean-Baptiste Andreae's art is the main pleasure of the show more book, with vivid character and creature designs and grand scenery. The convoluted plot by Wilfrid Lupano involves "chronopteres," a sort of magical aviary with consequences for the passage of time. Most of the key characters are defined by their relationships to the pulchritudinous Manzie Ganza, whose quest for eternal life has doomed her series of suitors and perhaps all of humanity. There are frequent sight gags that come off effectively, and Lupano also supplies some over-the-top dialogue, such as the mystic bonze's invocatory declaration: "By the power of not thinking, I catalyze within myself the quintessential dontgiveadamn of the cosmos, and I turn it back on itself!" (V.28)

I borrowed this book on impulse when I spotted it at the public library, and I did enjoy it. It seemed to be playing at a profundity that it never quite achieved. But I still found it to be a rewardingly dream-like entertainment. show less

First sentence: In the forest, when you've been dragging your butt from grove to grove for ages...it's good to drag it somewhere else for a while.

Premise/plot: The Wolf in Underpants returns from vacation to learn that EVERYONE (literally) is wearing *his* underpants. To clarify, someone has "stolen" his style/design for striped underpants. These "Wundies" are everywhere, selling cheaply. The Wolf is outraged. Though the quality is sorely lacking, everyone has copied him. He is no longer show more unique. So what is a Wolf to do? Get some pants?! Yes. But is the Wolf happy being Wolf in Pants instead of Wolf in Underpants?

My thoughts: This is the fifth book in the series, though not all the books have been translated into English and published in the United States. If you have a little one who is so enraptured by the premise of seeing a Wolf in Underpants on every single page--along with dozens of other animals in underpants--then this one might appeal. I am not as hooked as I would need to be to read all the books in the series. Though I do remember enjoying the first book in the series. For the right reader, this one could be funny. show less