The Wolf Who Cried Boy

The Wolf Who Cried Boy
By Jeffrey Dinardo
Publisher/Date: Scholastic 1989
# of Pages:29
Reading Level: 2nd Grade
Genre: Fiction/Picture Book

Summary:

This is a play off of the original well-known story "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." Only instead it is a wolf who cries boy. The wolf is a mischievous trickster. One day he decides to stir things up a bit by playing a trick on Mrs. Pig, Mr. Cat, and Mr. Turtle. He cries for help saying that a little boy is after him, and they all come running to help him only to find he has fooled them. They were angry, but went back to their shops. Then the wolf decides to play the trick again. So he cries help saying a little boy is after him. The three come running again to help only to find that they have been fooled again. They are angry again, and the leave the wolf. The wolf is tired and decides to take a nap. While he is sleeping a boy pops up out of the bushes and scares the wolf. The wolf yells for help, but nobody comes. The wolf is so scared he runs all the way home to hid under his bed. When he is gone, from out of the boy is Mrs. Pig, Mr. Turtle, and Mr. Cat. They pretended to be the boy to teach the wolf a lesson, and they went back to their shops.

Who benefits from reading this book?

This book is a fun story that teaches a good lesson. Those who need to learn their lesson that lying is not good would benefit from reading this book. However, it is also entertaining to anyone, even if they don't learn a lesson from it.

What conflicts/problems could this book possibly cause?

I don't know if this book could cause any problems. To me it seems like a harmless childrens story that has a good twist off of the original. The wolf learns his lesson in the end, so I don't think he could be considered a bad example.

My Reaction:

I like this book. I think it's a clever spin off of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf." I think that it teaches a good lesson about the importance of telling the truth always. I also thought the illustrations were well done. The animals that the story is about are cute.