WOLF!

Wolf lives outside of a town where he often gets tired and hungry.  He remembers that there is a farm nearby so he decides to go check it out.  He runs howling at the animals on the farm expecting them to all run away from him.  Several animals do run, but three brave animals do not budge.  They are so busy reading they are ignoring the Wolf.  Wolf is confused as to why these three animals are not afraid of him.  He is so intrigued that he goes to school with them that day.  He decides he is going to learn how to read.  He starts off slow reading small sentences and the pig, duck, and cow mock him telling him how much more he has to learn.  This makes Wolf even more determined to study harder so he can improve his reading.  He continues improving a little at a time, but this does not impress Pig, Cow, or Duck.  He read with the other animals and this time finally could read so well that the other animals listened to every word without budging.  Wolf realized how much fun it is to tell stories so he kept reading story after story.

                WOLF! By Becky Bloom is an excellent book to read aloud to all students.  It enables students to understand that everyone learns reading at a different pace, and some who are slow to learn reading may end up being some of the best story tellers and readers later.  It encourages children not to judge other students who may be struggling readers.  It also emphasizes that no matter how big or small, a child is, they can learn with confidence without being afraid.  Just as Cow, Duck, and Pig continued reading not afraid of Wolf, students can get that same courage to continue learning and studying without fear of being bullied. 

                This book has interesting illustrations that take up the full pages.  The text is over the illustrations so that when students look at the illustrations they see one large picture on each spread.  The illustrator, Pascal Biet, shows Wolf much larger in the first few pages when is trying to scare the other animals, and much smaller as the book goes on as he starts to fit in with them.  This enables children’s view of Wolf to change from a scary bully, into empathizing and rooting for him to become a better reader.

                It seems an appropriate time to read this book might be towards the beginning of the year when students are not as familiar with each other and before they start to stereotype their classmates based on reading ability or ability in any subject area.  This book would encourage them to keep an open mind and even encourage each other to improve, never knowing who the best readers and story tellers may be in the end.  While this book can seem cheesy, or too moral, I think children can relate to it because of its humor.  After all, it is a Wolf who goes to school on a farm and learns how to read!