The Greedy Wolf

by Timothy Knapman, Jean Jullien (illustrator)

A ravenous wolf meets his match when he encounters some enterprising young goats in this new spin on a Grimms’ fairy tale.

Once there was a wicked wolf who was so greedy that every day he would eat enough food for TEN birthday parties and still be hungry for more. One day he was on the prowl for dinner when he spotted seven juicy little goats left at home . . . alone. Could these kid goats be clever enough—and have enough silly tricks at the ready—to avoid getting eaten, and maybe even enjoy a little (or big) snack themselves? A renowned storyteller and an acclaimed artist come together to create an entertaining read- and laugh-aloud version of the classic fairy tale “The Wolf and the Seven Young Goats.”

Genres: Picture Books, Food, Fiction, Animals, Humor, Childrens

43 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 21, 2025

About the author

Timothy Knapman has written many books for children, including Mungo and the Picture Book Pirates, Dinosaurs in the Supermarket and Eleanor's Eyebrows. He also writes plays and co-writes musicals.

Timothy Knapman is available in a range of colours, and is washable.

Reviews

[Veronika · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is like a more clever and hilarious take on the Three Little Pigs but instead of pigs there are 7 little goats who manage to outsmart a greedy wolf! I loved the plot twist to this tale and can not wait to try and read this for a future library story time; I think the kids would love it! This would make for a great story to perform at a puppet show as well!

[Kirsten Paoline König · Rating 5 out of 5]

This picture book was so hilariously funny, it might be my favourite one from past day's retail market where I got to order new books for this spring. It will be published by Amsterdam publishing house Boycott Books.

Artist/illustrator Jean Jullien being the GOAT

[Fatima Seraj Alam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The goat mum’s and kids’ face creeped me and scared me. I am not a fan of horror and this kid’s book got me.

[Nienke Willemsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inmiddels ook in het Nederlands verschenen! Superleuk

[Afton Shirey]

This book was about a wolf who goes to the seven little goats house while the mom is gone and tries to get in by disguising himself as a mailman, ice cream man, and then a flower pot. By the time he gets in the goats keep giving him more food until he is stuffed full. Then the mom comes home and you realize the goats want to eat the wolf. They chase him around until he eventually gets lost and they have to eat the leftover food from what they fed the wolf.
I liked this book. The pictures were very animated and colorful which would definitely keep the attention of the students. It was a very good switch up of the wolf who goes to grandma's house. The faces of all the characters were well drawn and enthusiastic.
I think you could use this book in many ways. First the title uses the word greedy, which could be a good explanation to the kids about what that means and how to not be greedy. Also the little goats open the door for the wolf while the mom is gone, so as a teacher you could use that to teach safety.

[YSBR · Rating 4 out of 5]

A twist on a classic children’s story. The greedy wolf is looking for his next meal when he stumbles into the house of 7 goats! The goats are all alone at home and the wolf pretends to be a mailman dropping off a package. When that doesn't work he pretends to be the ice cream man but unfortunately he doesn’t have the most popular flavor! Finally he gets in by pretending to be a babysitter. The goats are cooking a feast and they offer the greedy wolf bread, soup, pasta, cake, fries, you name it; the greedy wolf eats it all. When Mother Goat comes back from the market she tells the goat children she didn’t find their favorite food … WOLF MEAT! After a brief chase the goat family forced the greedy wolf out of town, never to be seen again. The illustrations are colorful and large, which makes it great for young readers. Link to complete review: https://ysbookreviews.wordpress.com/2...

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The greedy wolf gets more than he bargained for when he sees Mummy Goat head off to the shops for dinner and knocks on the door. The seven baby goats see through his tricks to wheedle his way inside until he finally comes up with a (not very) convincing lie.

Told with lots of speech, set out in individual text blocks and in large easy to read font, this book has tremendous eye appeal. Jean Jullian's full-page, boldly coloured pages provide the backdrop for the cartoonish characters with wonderfully expressive faces and body movements.

The surprise ending will delight young readers! Serves the greedy wolf right!

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

All fairy tales have a thread of horror at their core, but this one has an absolutely terrifying spread of a ferocious goat mama.

Reminds me of That Is Not a Good Idea! and some of Bethan Woollvin's fairy tale adaptations.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A greedy wolf was always very hungry, so hungry that he could eat the amount of food at 10 birthday parties. A good book to talk about vocabulary (what does greedy mean?). He really wanted young goats to eat. I'm not familiar with the original tale, but it's similar enough to The Three Little Pigs that many know. In this version, the goats are pretty smart too. A good one for a kindergarten or 1st grade storytime that still follows "no one dies in storytime." You really need to have your voices planned and ready to go for the wolf's different attempts at getting into the house.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are fantastic and the story itself is funny. A greedy wolf wants to eat seven little goats whose mother has left them home alone. The wolf tries to trick the baby goats into letting him into the house, but will he succeed? The ending is one I didn't see coming, but it had me laughing! This is definitely going to be a hit at story time.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another redo on the three little pigs/Red Riding Hood/Animal gonna eat other animal. It reminded me of the Mo Willems book alot (That is Not a Good Idea). I think kids will like this one, although slightly darker than the others like it. The goat faces were kinda creepy...

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

A hungry wolf attempts to trick seven young goats into opening the door while their mother is out.

The morals are 1) Don't open the door to strangers when you are home alone and 2) Don't come between a mother and her cubs.

The illustrations were done in ink and digitally colored.

[Cheryl Gladfelter · Rating 4 out of 5]

While a bit disappointed the wolf didn't explode from all the food as he describes feeling the rose bush prickles and saying there wasn't room in his tummy for even a wafer-thin mint (a la Monty Python), but what happened next had me hysterically laughing.

[Steph]

Turn/Level: 1/3

Karma, Gluttony, Food/Not Food, Longer

[Spudpuppy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Y̶̖̹̥͎̤͒́̓͜͝Ư̶̧̯̯̠̾̑͗̂͝ͅM̸̩͕̝͕͈̳͗̍̕M̷̜͇̽͋͂Y̶͖̗̬̬͚̾́ ̴̫̍̅̌̑͐S̷̨̳̪̹̟͑̚͘C̴͙̏̉̀̊R̴͒̇̒͊̚ͅŨ̸̦̗̩̹M̵̬̫͓̖͇̀M̶̡̧̼̒̿̊̐̌̄Y̵̧͙̏̉

[Theo Scully]

love the subversion of traditional tropes; the illustrations give the book a very youthful feel

[Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

This had great potential but all the sudden there’s a picture of the goats that made them look like actual devils. It’s terrifying!

[Shawna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another 3 pigs retelling where the pigs outsmart the wolf. Good if you want a silly one that will make kids giggle.

[Library To-Go]

08/13/25 - Play & Learn and PediaTrust - JB

[Annamarie Carlson (she, her)]

This book is for that 3-year-old who gets a subscription bundle and just wants to read Klassen's The Skull.

[Nicole Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun - silly book. Great book to read to a group and change voices.

[Meghan Bohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new-to-me fairy tale!