Chinese / Singapore
Dang pi zhe yang pi de lang yu jian pi zhe lang pi de yang
(When a wolf in sheep’s skin meets a sheep in wolf’s skin)
Lee, Josef
(Li, Wenliang)
(text/illus.)
Singapore: Xing zhi wen jiao zhong xin (Xingzhi learning centre), 2022. – [42] p.
ISBN 978-981-18-6225-0
Disguise | Prejudice | Stereotype | Friendship | Picture book
Reading age: 4+
White Ravens issue: 2023
A big, bad hairy wolf disguises himself as a sheep to research the habits of his favourite source of food, while a young sheep, disguised as a wolf, sets out to spy on her archenemies. When they meet along the way, they are so taken with each other that both forget they are in disguise. Abandoning their missions, they decide to explore the world together. Their friendship remains unshakable, even when, one day, they hang out their fake furs to dry after a swim and see each other in their true forms. This ostensibly simple story about a friendship – illustrated in cheerful, anarchic images and sprawling childish writing – also addresses discrimination and racism: wolf and sheep can only become friends if they look beyond appearances and are not guided by prejudice toward their »enemies«. Singaporean designer and animator Josef Lee, who has won over twenty international design awards and published his first picture book in 2017, believes that picture books are an ideal way to introduce social issues to children. [LO]