Lobo Mau com Dor de Dente

A picture book where the bite is in the page turn.

Why this book matters

Lobo Mau com Dor de Dente reimagines the Big Bad Wolf by removing almost everything that traditionally defines him. No teeth. No saliva. No snarling illustrations.

The aggression is displaced from representation to timing, rhythm, and the physical act of reading.

Instead of depicting a bite, the book becomes the bite. The joke lives in the page turn, in delay, and in reader expectation. Reading is the action.

More than a children’s book, the project operates as a pop object that treats fairy tales as shared cultural memory and graphic design as narrative engine.

Concept in one line

A fairy tale redesign where violence is executed by the book itself, not by the character.

Visual and material approach

  • Graphic restraint as punchline

  • Absence used as narrative device

  • Rhythm and pacing replace illustration of action

  • Book format treated as an active performer

The wolf never shows his teeth, but the reader still flinches.

International recognition

  • Communication Arts

  • AOI (Association of Illustrators)

  • AI-AP (American Illustration–American Photography)

These acknowledgements position the book within visual culture and design discourse, beyond the children’s publishing market.

Press-friendly description (short)

A minimalist picture book that turns the act of reading into a physical joke. By withholding the wolf’s defining feature, the book transfers tension to the reader’s hands, eyes, and timing. No spectacle. No moral. Just a book that knows when to bite.

Book details

  • Title: Lobo Mau com Dor de Dente

  • Author, illustrator, designer: Daniel Kondo

  • Publisher: Carambaia

  • Year: 2024

  • Country: Brazil

  • Format: Picture book / book-object

  • Language: Portuguese

Images

High-resolution images

  • Cover

  • Selected spreads

  • Book-as-object photographs

Reading material

FULL PDF

  • Full reading PDF

  • Excerpts available on request

About the author

Daniel Kondo is a Brazilian author, illustrator, and designer whose work often explores the intersection of graphic design, humor, and book materiality. His projects frequently treat the book as an active visual device rather than a neutral container for narrative.

Links

For editors

Additional images, captions, or a physical copy can be provided upon request. The project is available for coverage in design, books, and culture sections.