Once Upon a Breath

Deborah Dowson is a children’s librarian in Caledon East, Ontario.

B.B. Wolf is a very big, very “bad,” “jazz lovin’” saxophone
player who also happens to have asthma. He describes using his
prevention puffer every day and his reliever puffer when he is bothered
by allergies. He explains how he avoids dust, ragweed, cats, and
pollution, all of which trigger his asthma. And he demonstrates to the
three little pigs that, despite his condition, he can still score the
winning shot at basketball, still play a mean saxophone, and still huff
and puff and blow their house down. But in the end, the wolf recruits
the three pigs for his blues band and helps to rebuild their house.

This book’s eye-popping color and bold visual style perfectly
complement the slangy narrative. The book offers children an upbeat
message—namely, that asthma need not be a constraining condition—and
a strong role model in the character of the wolf. Highly recommended.