The Boy Who Cried Wolf

by BG Hennessy

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Starred Review. PreS-Gr 2–Aesops The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf is given new life in this imaginative picture book. The story begs to be read aloud, and the large, colorful, and amusing watercolor-and-gouache paintings are perfect for group viewing. The traditional plot has been expanded to include some catchy refrains: Munch, munch, munch. Baaaaaaaaaaaaa, answered the sheep, and They looked everywhere for the wolf. No wolf in the pasture. No wolf on the hill. No wolf in the forest. These sheep have big expressive eyes and play leapfrog and put on blindfolds, and boys ride them. Instead of just one, there are three snarling, famished-looking creatures that finally appear when the shepherd boy cries wolf for a third time. The illustrations show an outlandish village with skyscrapers located on what appears to be a plateau in a landscape that is dotted with conical hills and a funny, discordant mix of townspeople that includes a knight running in his armor, women wearing mesh stockings and high lace boots, one man wearing a top hat and another a helmet with fluffy feathers on the top, one with a musketeer hat, and another a baseball cap. Each one is holding a weapon: the usual rakes and shovels, an umbrella, a baseball bat, and even a barber pole. The story ends with a fanciful twist, and the moral is understood but not included. A clever take on an old favorite.–Kirsten Cutler, Sonoma Library, CA
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From BookList, February 1, 2006, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.
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PreS-Gr. 1. Children who may have heard their parents reference the boy who cried wolf (without a clue about what they were talking about) get a very funny version of the story here. The plot is the familiar one, but humorous embellishments abound. “I am the most bored boy in the world,” the shepherd says (as he's picking his nose), so, for a little excitement, he runs into the town yelling, “Wolf! Wolf! Wolf.” The people answer his frenzied cries twice but ignore him the third time, when three hungry wolves actually appear. Along with the text's funny moments, Kulikov milks the situation in the art. He uses a variety of perspectives, a couple of which almost put the boy in the reader's lap, and his watercolor-and-gouache artwork teases many laughs from the sheep, whose expressions range from adoring to alarmed. This also has great energy, especially when the townspeople run hither and yon. The ending is a little flat, but at least the sheep end up in a tree rather than a wolf's stomach.
IleneCooper.
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