The two meet as the storm ends and the girl picks up the wolf and follows the sounds of wolves she hears, encountering some dangers along the way.

[7] Maggie Reagan in a starred review for Booklist also noted a similar them saying the book "is a tender, never precious story of kindness and cooperation.

[10] It was also listed as a best book of 2017 by National Public Radio who noted that "Cordell offers young readers a dreamy fable with a lot to say about making connections outside your comfort zone"[3] Horn Book Magazine,[11] School Library Journal,[12] Kirkus,[13] the Boston Globe,[14] and Huffington Post where it was called "a new parable for our times.

[1] The American Library Association awarded the book its 2018 Caldecott Medal citing its "fairy tale elements and a strong sense of color and geometry offer an engrossing, emotionally charged story.

"[2] Award Committee Chair Tish Wilson said, “Committee members were astonished that a deceptively simple book could be such a dramatic story of survival.”[2] In his Caldecott acceptance speech, Cordell revealed that an early illustration that turned into the story came from his disappointment that an earlier book of his, Hello!