Wolf! Wolf!

by John Rocco

Book Overview

Putting a new twist on a classic The Boy Who Cried Wolf, this retelling finds a curmudgeonly wolf discovering what he's been missing the most. Full color. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1423100123
• ISBN13: 9781423100126
• Release Date: March 2007
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.9" x 11.3"
• Age Range: 3 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

Pro Vegetarian

A bright updating of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" Three reasons to buy this book: diversity, pro-vegetarian, fable redone. This retelling of the fable "do not cry wolf" is told with a kinder and broader brushstroke all the way around. It is a quick read, (perfect when multiple bedtime stories are being piled up) and starts out with the elderly wolf trying to manage his weedy garden with great discern. After hearing a herd boy yell his name "Wolf - Wolf" and realizing the boy is an annoying prankster calling for help and not calling for him, he tries to duck out of sight as the angry townspeople come running up the hill. His gaze quickly turns upon the goats as a better option that his weed filled garden. The boy is faced with the real wolf and the lesson of yelling and no one coming to help the prankster. The wolf makes the boy BRING a goat to his farm because he is really too old to run after a goat and ( he explains to the boy) no one will believe him again if ALL the goats are still there. So ONE goat really has to go... The wolf returns to the farm to find that the boy lived up to the bargain AND the goat had eaten all the weeds to reveal a pile of very yummy vegetables. The wolf and the goat become fast friends. THE END This is worth buying in hardcover and perfect for a kindergarten through second grade classroom. If you are a classroom teacher who likes to present literature that has diverse populations represented you will appreciate the Asian representation of the characters. This is a pro-vegetarian message on how the wolf chooses to eat from his garden rather than slaughter a goat. RICH CHICKS specializes in independent media reviews for women and we read hundreds of books on a variety of subjects to help you invest in the right media for your dollar. We have left many book reviews all over this site.

three silly chicks

Reviewed by Three Silly Chicks - Readers, Writers, and Reviewers of funny books for kids. Wolf is old, tired and friendless. He spends his days fighting a losing battle against the weeds in his garden. When he hears a far-off voice calling, "Wolf! Wolf!" he hauls his creaking, cracking joints down the mountain to see if someone is inviting him to share a meal. He arrives to find a boy who should be minding his goats, but prefers playing tricks on the villagers. Wolf, who (surprisingly) doesn't like tricky boys or angry villagers with sticks, sneaks away. When the boy cries, "Wolf! Wolf!" again, Old Wolf treks back to see if another wolf is stealing the goats. Instead he finds more angry villagers. (Dang those angry villagers!) But when the boy tries to trick those townfolk for the third time, it's the boy who gets tricked and Old Wolf who ends up with a friend and a weed-free garden. In this clever retelling of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, John Rocco weaves a tight story to show that things aren't always as they seem. From the villagers' point of view, events follow the classic tale. The wolf's vantage point offers a much different reality. His behind-the-scenes account of what really happens might make readers rethink other classic tales. Rocco sets his rendition in long-ago China and illustrates it with warm tones and slightly angular lines. This is a well-written, quietly funny book that is perfect to share with any tricky kid who loves a good tale.

beautifully illustrated, well-told

This retelling of the boy who cried wolf is beautifully illustrated, with an Asian (it evokes China for me) theme. In the composition of the illustrations, you can clearly see that Rocco has experience as an art director for animated films (he was the art director on Shrek). They are not only beautiful, but present a variety of interesting perspectives (a below-ground-level view that reveals the fish in a stream, a view looking straight down at the boy in a tree and the wolf looking up from below, a scene peeking over the wolf's shoulder as he looks out from his hiding place in a bamboo forest, etc). The story itself is engaging and well-told, sophisticated enough for older children, yet simple enough for the young ones (2-3). This book quickly became my 4-year-old son's favorite, replacing every Dr. Seuss book, Dinosaur books, Eric Carle books...

Same moral but with an Asian & Vegetarian twist

Again another story that has been retold and surprisingly done possibly even better than the orignal and with an Asian background! To me, this story is set in China. The story begins with the wolf who has gotten older, you see he's not as spry as he use to be and now he's taken up gardening. When you plant vegetables, flower or both and somehow lots of weeds also grow! Weeds, weeds, weeds, too many weed among garden where the thoughts going through the wolfs head when he heard, Wolf, Wolf! Off the wolf slowly ambles in the direction of the sound thinking.... I wonder who this wolf is, only to find a young boy sitting on a rock among his grazing sheep as the villagers run up to help the boy who cried Wolf, Wolf. From here you know the next part of the story, but the ending is really cute and has a very nice and unexpected twist! I hope you enjoy the tale, moral and the beautiful illustrations as much as I do every time I pick up this book!

Beautiful and funny!

A brilliant updating of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" with a hip message. John Rocco's illustrations are masterful, every page a work of art. What every children's picture book should be -- thoughtful, expressive, pointed and a feast for the eyes.