Sheep in Wolves' Clothing

by Satoshi Kitamura

A comic mystery that will keep readers guessing

When Georgina, Hubert, and Gogol -- three sheep -- have their fleecy coats stolen from the beach while they are swimming, they suspect that some wily wolves have pulle dthe wool over their eyes. To catch the thieves, the sheep enlist the help of Elliott Baa, private detective. But will Elliott's street smarts, combined with the help of a gang of rugby-loving cats, be enough to crack this baa-ffling case? Satoshi Kitamura's colorful, antic illustrations bring this comic mystery to life.

Genres: Picture Books, Mystery, Childrens, Animals, Wolves

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 18, 1995

About the author

Satoshi Kitamura was born in 1956. After dropping out of school to pursue art, Kitamura decided not to attempt a 10-year apprenticeship as a potter and instead worked as a graphic artist. He was not trained as an artist, but at the age of 19 began to do commercial work as an illustrator for adverts and magazines. He moved from Tokyo to London in 1979 where he worked mainly at designing greeting cards.
Satoshi Kitamura has won several awards, including the Mother Goose Award, the National Art Library Award from the Victoria and Albert Museum, and a Nestle Children’s Book Prize Silver Medal. He lives in Japan.

Reviews

[Kaethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of my 365 Kids Books challenge. For a fuller explanation see my review for 101 Amazing Facts about Australia You can see all the books on their own shelf.

Kitamura's books shouldn't work: he tends to use too many words, and there are plot holes, and things just get abandoned. And yet, it works. This borrows from The Wind in the Willows and Sam Spade and throws in a bunch of rugby cats. Random and silly and what about the car?

Library copy

[Ellie Morland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantastic illustrations in a comic like way. One way to introduce children to storyboards. I enjoyed the speech within the story and how well this could prompt children to use speech marks within their writing and how this is done well.

[Judith Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful book from Satoshi Kitamura. My son found me a copy of the Welsh translation - Defaid Mewn Dillad Blaidd- even more fun!

[William Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story and the journey the sheep went on. This is because the main characters Hubert and Georgina were always doing different activities and meeting different characters. What I did find was that the way the characters spoken changed throughout the story. Most of the time Satoshi wrote quotes in-between pictures although in one scene speech bubbles were used. Perhaps speech bubbles could have been used in more dramatic and significant scenes. Another aspect of the story that was engaging was that different locations were used which kept the story moving and entertaining.

Overall the story was enjoyable to read and I liked it but perhaps the drawings could improve but also the writing of characters. For examples some characters would be introduced but then left out for the rest of the story without any real explanation.

[Micaela Varela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't really what I was expecting when I first picked up this book. By looking at the title, it made me think the author was going to mix things up and make the sheep be the bad guys for once. Spoiler: they're not. I was a little disappointed, but overall I still enjoyed the story. I think the art style of the book is what kept me interested the most (I especially loved how the wolves look).

[Ligaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Satoshi Kitamura, the author/illustrator, is one of my all-time favorites! The illustrations are charming and detail-filled! The stories are silly and engaging. As a knitter, I am particularly taken with this story of three sheep who lose their coats. I just re-read my copy of the book as a lovely break in my stressful day.

[Mercy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kitamura cleverly displays a naivety of the sheep and the cunningness of the fox with an infusion of an ingenious sheep that unravels the mystery of the missing wool. The ending is a hook that will keep readers speculating and interpreting it whichever way they want. Intriguing.

[Frances Coe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adventure based story

[Eduardo Macias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Childhood classic

[Jamie Drutz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! It was more of a mystery and had a very unique format that I don't see very often. The book itself is vertical orientation and contains both images that are full bleed and those with white borders. Many pages of the book are also set up in a comic strip style alongside full bleed images. The font in the book is classic and the text is parallel to what's being said in the story. The text is always placed in white space, making it clear that it is not actually part of the illustrations. The illustrations are very detailed, especially the backgrounds, which caught my attention quickly. After just a few pages I was able to recognize the setting of the book; London. The buildings and scenery in the images are very well done and reflected the real city accurately, which led me to believe that the author must be from there. Overall, this book was different from what I expected. In many stories where the wolf is the villain they're usually up to the same thing, but in this case, it's just business.

[Sadie · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Sheep in Wolves' Clothing" by Satoshi Kitamura is about three sheep who want to go to the beach. When they get to the beach, some wolves there tell them the salt water will ruin their wool coats and to just leave them with them. So they do. After a few hours, they come out of the water and the wolves and wool are gone! Luckily, one of the sheep has a detective cousin who finds their wool, but it's no longer their wool coats. The wolves own a wool company and made wool clothes out of them! So, the sheep take the clothes and go back home. I didn't like the book very much because it wasn't very enticing; it was too predictable. What wolf is nice to sheep? I wouldn't recommend this book.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells the tale of three sheep through a comic-esque series of illustrations. The author uses darker, vintage-feeling colors to give the book an old-timey feel, which adds to the book's parody on old detective movies. The text is bold and black, and is presented in various formats throughout the book. The images also vary from page to page. Some are full bleed with text near the top or middle, while other feature panels, and still others feature a combination of the two. Overall, it was pretty creative and I enjoyed it.

[Rachel Manak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is done in a portrait orientation. The cover page has very fun, playful font along with a very unrealistic illustration. The end pages are a dark green and the illustrations are full bleed with a few interesting cut outs. The cut outs really add to the playfulness of the book and to the unrealistic aspect of the illustrations. The text is also a more bold font which adds to the story by making it more playful. There are an assortment of colors used, some brighter, some darker, which really add to the overall feel of the story and the illustrations.

[Brianda Cruz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is adorbale i thought the pictures where very creative and this book is overall good the story is cute and even if a person doesn't like to read or is barley learning to read this book is pretty cute for them to read or even skim through the pictures. This book is good and i was so glad to read it to my sister. She could not get over the pictures her and i are very artisitc so when we saw this it was just to cute.

[Christy Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a okay story, but not really sure if I would read it to my students. I liked how the sheep worked together to get the desired results to a certain extent. I also enjoyed the artwork, but it did not really capture my attention like some do. I never had the "Wow" in this book. My kids would probably like it because of the animals, but not sure if I will use it.

[Linnea Lyding · Rating 1 out of 5]

The drawings in this book are fun. The story is OK. It offers thoughts about not trusting strangers. When the sheep trust other sheep life is fine, but then the wolves dupe them. I'm not so sure that I would be comfortable using this in a class. It does offer a fun introduction to solving mysteries.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

While enjoying the last swim of the year at the beach, Georgina, Hubert, and Gogol have their fleecy coats stolen by wolves. They hire Elliott Baa, a private detective, to recover their property. With the help of a clowder of rugby loving cats, Elliott solves the case, and the stolen property is returned.

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one of our favorite Kitamura books. Three sheep have their coats stolen by some shady wolves, and they need the help of a great sheep detective and a gang of rowdy cats to help them foil the wool stealing plan of the villians. You wonder where he gets this stuff, but you gotta love it.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun story, although it's a little odd. It has Satoshi Kitamura's inimitable illustrative style and quirky storylines. Our girls enjoyed the story, especially how the detective solved the mystery.

[Dominic Dowd · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was really funny! (especially the part of the book where the ally cats help the sheep find their wool). I thought it was a book that taught how to make the best out of a good situation, and I thought it accomplished that in a very humorous way.

[Jeannie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sheer ridiculousness of knitting wolves won my heart. Years after the first reading, I am apt to burst out, " 'We've come for our coats,' said the detective. The wolves' jaws dropped and their knitting needles froze." and giggle hysterically.

[Dana Veron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this in the library. Camille loves it. Great story of sheep on a detective hunt for their lost wool. Great illustrations - worth several reads!

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

You HAVE to get this book for your personal library. The drawings are great, and the dialog is hilarious!

[Denicemarcell]

Sheep in cars, swimming, detecting and getting new coats=very busy sheep.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sheep on a mission, hilarity ensues.

[Marcos · Rating 5 out of 5]

They lost their coat because there were some sneaky wolves in town but they went to the beach too but they had a house in the town and a sheep girl had a cousin to help them and he was very brave.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining story how some sheep are tricked out of their wool by some wolves and how they try to get it back. Really fun.

Great illustrations.