Howl

Have you ever had one of those days when nothing is right – even the sun is too bright, your spaghetti too long and the pyjamas are wrong? That is the day Maggie has had. And then her two front teeth fall out – it is too much. Maggie thinks wolfish thoughts – but how can she really release those feelings. It is Mum who shows her – because even Mums need to howl sometimes. As wolves Maggie and Mum are able to let go – until it is time to go back to bed as Maggie.

In this picture book, Kat Patrick, shows young readers - and here it is a little girl - that it is all right to find a place to let go – to send your biggest feelings to the sky. It introduces the realisation that even adults may need to express themselves. It is about the relationship between a mother and her daughter and an affirmation that everyone needs to howl and be wild sometimes. Evie Barrow’s textured illustrations and saturated colours bring the atmosphere and background to life adding detail and depth to the author’s narrative. Maggie and her Mum have real character and their emotions, moving from Maggie’s pent-up frustrations to the joyous freedom of a moonlit garden, are perfectly realised in words and images.