THE FRIENDLY WOLF

Little Cloud and his sister Bright Eyes wander away from the berry pickers and are rescued by a friendly wolf, who guides them home and is welcomed with a ceremony confirming a pact of friendship between the Plains Indians and the wolf people. By itself, the tale is sober and rather deliberately unfanciful. But the Gobles concentrate the action in the flat, clean edged designs which are reminiscent of The Fetterman Fight (1972) and Custer's Last Stand (1970) but more varied. Animals are hidden everywhere among the patterned rocks and berry bushes and scenes of camp life are richly decorated. It's unfortunate that, in such an attractive volume, the print looks, as it perhaps is, secondary. Still, the progress of Little Cloud and his sister across the keenly stylized landscapes is worth following.