There’s A Wolf at the Door

Author:  Retold by Zoe B. Alley and pictures by R.W. Alley

Genre:  Graphic Novel

This comic panel story is retold in a little bit of different perspective.  This book combines five traditional stories which are The Three Little Pigs, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, Little Red Riding Hood, The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing, and The Wolf and the Seven Little Goslings.  The comic reveals the names of the three little pigs (Alan, Gordon and Blake).  This story connects all the stories together by the wolf giving up on the three little pigs and suddenly sees sheep so he wants to try to eat one of them.  Then it jumps to the story about The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf.  The shepherd, Barry, was so bored and wanted companionship so he cried wolf.  The whole town came to kill the wolf but Barry admitted that there wasn’t a wolf, but little did he know the big bad wolf was waiting in the forest planning his attack.  He then wanted attention again and cries that there is a wolf again when he hadn’t seen the wolf yet.  The town comes and finds out again there was not a wolf and angrily they walk away.  Then the wolf attacks.  Barry screams but no one comes.  The clever sheep threw a huge boulder at the wolf and it chased him away.  He then runs into the forest and the story switches to Little Red Riding Hood.  Rhonda (red riding hood) was obsessed with the color red and was very selfish and her life revolved around red clothes.  Her parents sent her on a job to give her grandmother cookies in hopes to make Rhonda feel good about doing something considerate.  When she got in the dark forest the wolf jumped out and he complimented her on her outfit and they walked together to granny’s house.  Rhonda stopped to pick flowers for her hair and the wolf ran ahead and scared the grandma out of her house.  The wolf dressed as her granny and hid in the bed.  Rhonda figured out it was the wolf and threw her red heels at the wolf and ripped his clothes off as he ran away.  Then the story jumps to The Wolf in the Sheep’s Clothing.  The wolf has on a rug that looks like sheep’s wool and runs into peasants.  He tries to eat them but they insult him and walk away.  He then uses the wool disguise and tries to go back and eat one of the sheep of the little boy that cried wolf was watching.  The sheep knew it was the wolf right away and beat him up.  He then runs into the gosling house.  He tried to pretend to be their mother but the goslings were too smart for that and tricked him into thinking that he had caught them all, but he didn’t.  The wolf eventually gave up and said he would become a vegetarian.

I loved this book.  It was comical and had a little twist to each story as it is told traditionally.  After reading aloud, I would talk to my students about how they thought the stories all connected to each other.  I would have my students break up into reading groups and talk about the stories and chart in their group which parts changed from the original stories for all five stories.  I would have them chart why the wolf finally gives up in each story and what moral or lesson they learn from each story.  Each group will share with the class.