Bob and Zoe Alley, in Bob’s studio in Barrington, combined their artistic talents in the humorous children’s book, There’s a Wolf at the Door.

The Providence Journal / Sandor Bodo

BARRINGTON

It isn’t easy being a wolf, especially in a children’s book.

Just ask husband-and-wife author-illustrators Bob and Zoe Alley, whose latest book, There’s a Wolf at the Door (Roaring Brook Press), updates five classic children’s stories, including “Little Red Riding Hood,” “The Three Little Pigs” and “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.”

In the Alleys’ retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood,” the title character turns out to be a fashion-crazed little girl named Rhonda who wears only red clothes. When Rhonda finds a hungry wolf waiting in grandmother’s bed, she doesn’t panic. Instead, she criticizes the wolf for choosing a frumpy-looking nightgown and advises him not to wear white after Labor Day.

The wolf, understandably flummoxed, flees into the woods.

The outcome, at least from the wolf’s point of view, isn’t much better in the book’s other tales. In the Alleys’ version of “The Three Little Pigs,” he’s conked on the head with an apple and chased by a runaway barrel. In “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” meanwhile, he suffers what may the ultimate lupine indignity: he’s outsmarted by a flock of wisecracking sheep.

While such changes might shock purists, the Alleys see them as a way to make classic children’s stories accessible to a new generation of readers.

“The basic story lines are still there,” says Zoe Alley, who handled most of the writing chores.

“Little Red Riding Hood still finds a wolf hiding in her grandmother’s bed. The Three Little Pigs still build houses of straw, wood and brick. Really, the only thing we did was add some humor, which is something that younger readers really seem to respond to.”

As for the less-than-dignified treatment of the wolf, a dapper-looking fellow who appears in all five of the book’s charmingly illustrated stories, Alley makes no apologies.

“In bedtime stories, the wolf never wins,” she says. “Ask anyone.”

Apparently plenty of other readers agree with their approach. Since its release last month, There’s a Wolf at the Door has received starred reviews from Booklist (“hand it to a reluctant reader and listen for the laughs”), Kirkus Reviews ( “classic stories, amicably retold”) and School Library Weekly (“the five stories meld seamlessly together”), among others.

For Zoe Alley, a Natick, Mass., native with enough energy for two or three people, such comments are especially sweet. After all, The Wolf at the Door is her first book.

Her husband — R.W. “Bob” Alley — is another matter.

A successful illustrator with more than 100 titles to his credit, he’s best known for his work on the popular Paddington Bear books, which he has illustrated since 1997. Other highlights include 1998’s Detective Dinosaur: Lost and Found (with author James Skofield), 2003’s The Great Googlestein Museum Mystery (with Jan Van Leeuwen) and 2005’s Dear Santa: The Letters of James B. Dobbins (with local storyteller and performer Bill Harley).

Since 1987, Alley has also done the illustrations for the popular “Elf-Help” books. Designed to tackle sensitive issues with a mix of wit and wisdom, the books cover topics such as overcoming depression, coping with divorce and dealing with the death of a parent.

Given his background, you might expect that Bob Alley was the driving force behind There’s a Wolf at the Door. But the Alleys say that wasn’t the case.

“From the very beginning, we approached [the book] as a collaborative project,” says Bob. “Before we even pitched the idea to the publisher, we did a lot of talking and brainstorming. As the writer in the family, Zoe spent more time working on the stories, while I did the illustrations. But the book itself is definitely something that we wanted to do together.”

At the same time, There’s a Wolf at the Door posed challenges for both the author (Zoe) and the illustrator (Bob). For one thing, the Alleys wanted the book to follow a “graphic novel” format, in which the action proceeds in a series of sequential panels and drawings. The style, which is similar to that found in comic books, has become increasingly popular in recent years.

That was a departure for Bob, whose illustrations typically play a supporting role within a written narrative. (By contrast, the illustrations in a graphic novel are expected to convey most of the action.) It also meant producing many more illustrations per page.

Ultimately, though, the graphic-novel format proved liberating.

“It turned out great,” says Bob. “One of my publishers’ big complaints is that I produce a lot more drawings than they can use. But the graphic novel format demands so many drawings that it actually worked to my advantage. I could draw to my heart’s content.”

Zoe, meanwhile, had an even bigger challenge: How to reinvent classic kids’ stories without snuffing out the magic that made them classics in the first place.

Her solution? “Just start writing,” she says. “If you sit around waiting for inspiration to strike, you probably won’t get very far. Sometimes all it takes is the germ of an idea — a character’s name, an amusing situation — and you’re off to the races.”

The Alleys also defend the book’s many contemporary touches, which range from the names given to all the main characters (many fairy tales and nursery rhymes dispense with first names) to the fashion references that crop up in “Little Red Riding Hood.”

The Alleys even gave their main character — the wolf — a fashion makeover, dressing him in a snazzy looking coat, vest and top hat. Armed with an ivory-handled walking stick, he looks a bit like someone’s sly but ultimately sweet-tempered uncle.

“We really wanted the stories to connect with the age group — mostly four-to-eight-year-olds — that we were aiming for,” says Zoe. “Using humor was a way to do that.”

And how did they handle working together for the first time?

“Actually, we spent a lot of time working separately,” says Zoe. “I wrote the stories, then gave them to Bob for the illustrations. But knowing each other the way we do also helped. For example, I’d develop a character with Bob’s illustrations in mind, while his understanding of how I write and the kind of characters I create helped him develop the illustrations.”

In fact, the Alleys are already working on a sequel to There’s a Wolf at the Door. The book, which is due out next year, will follow the same format, with one exception: rather than wolves, the new book will be about princesses.

In the meantime, Bob Alley plans to continue working on other projects, including the Paddington Bear series. Created by British author Michael Bond, Paddington first appeared in 1958’s A Bear Called Paddington. Since then, the bear “from darkest Peru” with a taste for cocoa and marmalade sandwiches has appeared in more than a dozen books that have sold more than 30 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages.

Surprisingly, Alley says he rarely meets face-to-face with Paddington’s creator. Instead, the reclusive Bond typically sends a completed manuscript to his publisher, HarperCollins, which then sends a copy to the Alleys’ home in Barrington. Any subsequent contact between author and illustrator is usually arranged through HarperCollins’s London office.

“If I don’t hear anything from [Bond], it’s usually a good sign,” Alley says. “When it comes to doing one of the Paddington books, no news is good news.”

bvansicl@projo.com