Wolf! [Hardcover]

Becky Bloom (Author), Pascal Biet (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

A wolf learns to read in order to impress a group of farmyard animals he has met.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With a pinch of the tongue-in-cheek and a pound of perseverance, this droll wolf story is a charmer. When a hungry, nearly penniless itinerant wolf decides to make a meal of some barnyard animals, he finds that they won't even look up from their books. "This is a farm for educated animals," they tell him. The wolf is caught so off guard that he forgets about his appetite and enrolls in school. When he takes his newfound knowledge back to the farm and proudly reads, "Run wolf! Run!" the animals go on "reading their own books, not the least impressed." Not until the wolf makes repeat visits to the library and buys his own storybook (with his last coins) can he read "with confidence and passion," entrancing the cow, pig and duck with story after story. The foursome decides to travel the world as storytellers, and the endpapers show them reading books to children everywhere. French illustrator Biet fills her fresh watercolors with lively humor and clever characterizations. The wolf, sporting red reading glasses and an orange vest, peruses library books as solemnly as a British don. The cow wears blue sunglasses and a look of contented rapture as she listens to the wolf's tales. The wry humor of both text and illustrations wisely offsets the book's underlying message about the determination needed to learn to read well. All ages.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-Bloom gives folklore's villain a new role. Woebegone and hungry, Wolf is rebuffed by his intended victims-a duck, a pig, and a cow-when he attempts to use his ilk's traditional tactics to secure lunch. Deeply engrossed in their reading, the highly literate trio cannot be bothered with the ruffian intruder. Stunned to be ignored by his would-be prey, who ask him to be big and dangerous elsewhere, the wolf determines that he, too, can educate himself and so sets off to school sporting a new set of red glasses. Although his human classmates are a bit puzzled by his presence, he masters the basics and tries in vain to impress the barnyard animals by reading from his primer, "Run, wolf! Run! See wolf run." Determined to hold their attention, Wolf goes first to the public library and then to the bookstore to acquire more reading experience and skill, until he finally gains an appreciative audience when he reads "with confidence and passion." The pig, the cow, and the duck beg for more, and the protagonist finds that literacy is the key to friendship. Parents, teachers, librarians, and newly skilled readers will love the unabashedly undisguised message of the text, but any audience will find great fun in Biet's jaunty watercolors that invest Wolf and his reading pals with such distinctive character.
Sue Sherif, Fairbanks North Star Borough Public Library, AK
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531301559
• ISBN-13: 978-0531301555
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,126 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Foxes & Wolves
  • #54 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Farm Animals

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learning to Read Transforms Wolf, September 24, 2000

By 

J. Moore "SurroundedByBooks" (Prescott, AZ, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wolf! (Hardcover)

This is such a wonderful, unique twist to the old story. I've read this book five times since buying it yesterday and can't wait to read it to the second graders in my volunteer reading program. The whimsical pictures of the animals totally absorbed in reading their books and thus refusing to be disturbed by a big , bad wolf are absolutely fantastic. The wolf gets the message that these are "educated" animals, and he embarks on a great quest to learn to read. The wolf's unfaltering determination to read is truly inspiring. Don't miss the looks on the faces of the humans as they encounter (on the sidelines) the wolf throughout the story. There are also subtle signs that learning to read is helping to refine the wolf's social graces (as he announces himself to the farm animals each time). The story is great; the art is great. Definitely #1 on my gift-giving list

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for kids, October 5, 2002

By 

Grace (Warwick, RI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wolf! (Hardcover)

I am an elementary school principal. I read this book at a faculty meeting and to parents at a PTO meeting. Both groups loved it and several teachers have since shared it with their classes. A great book to explain the complexities of learning to read.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Silly, fun tale that turns the wolf myth on it's head, October 27, 1999

By 

Whitney (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wolf! (Library Binding)

We checked this book out of the library and liked it so much we wanted to buy it. My 3 year old loves how the power of the wolf is turned on it's head -- the farm animals who can read are not scared of him. They turn the wolf from wanting to be a bully and getting his way by sheer brute force to wanting to educate himself which is a wonderful message. We giggle every time the wolf howls and all the animals ignore his tactics. The animals later come to accept the wolf when he becomes a great storyteller and joins the farm to entertain the others. This transformation story -- something scary thing into something positive -- is captivating and empowering for young children. It doesn't need to make perfect sense, the kids get it.