The Wolf Who Cried Boy

by Bob Hartman, Tim Raglin (Illustrator)

Little Wolf is tired of his mom's cooking! It's the same old thing night after night, Lamburgers and Sloppy Does. How he wishes his mother would serve up a nice platter of his favorite dish: Boy! But Boy is hard to come by these days. As Little Wolf trudges home from school one day, he decides to postpone his boring dinner by shouting "Boy! Boy!" But what will happen when a real boy finally comes along? In this hilarious twisted tale, Little Wolf learns the same timeless lesson that the boy who cried "Wolf!" did so many years ago.

Genres: Picture Books, Folklore, Childrens, Humor, Animals, Fairy Tales, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

Published October 5, 2006

Reviews

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to the efforts of Little Wolf to avoid his mom's cooking, it is safe for boy scout troops to explore the woods -- even enter wolf dens and sit on their couches. That's right. No more Boy Chops, Baked Boy-tato, or Boys-n-Berry Pie for the wolves. This book is hilarious! The wolf family has some very interesting dishes on their menu rotation: Three-Pig Salad (made with hay, sticks and bricks), Granny Smith Pie (don't let the Granny get too crusty), Chipmunks and Dip, and Chocolate Moose (that looks like . . .). When Little Wolf first reports a boy sighting, Papa Wolf runs out of the den with his butterfly net while Mama Wolf brandishes her rolling pin as they run hither and yon looking for that boy to eat for dinner. In the end, it's a win-win. Little Wolf has learned not to fib and the boy scouts can freely work on their forestry badges.

[Liana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfection. XD

[Lindsey Rakich · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Wolf Who Cried Boy by Bob Hartman is a an opposing view story of one of my favorite classic tales, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”. Throughout the original and this opposing story, it is filled with meaningful lessons that can be used in any classroom or at home with children. The main underlying message is to never lie. Lying can lead to unfortunate or even dangerous situations at times. This story had a similar story line and theme to the original but instead of a boy crying wolf, a wolf cried boy. The young wolf was sick and tired of his mom cooking him the same food time after time. His favorite meal is boy and he wanted it badly. He runs into the cave claiming there is a boy several times and sends his parents running to see if there truly is a boy. Once his parents catch on they don’t want to keep running out to look anymore. The one time the boy actually is outside, his parents do not believe him. At the end, the wolf understands he was wrong and learns his lesson. His change of heart seemed to connect to the overall plot but it could have been better developed. The illustrations were fun and created a very detailed setting. This book isn’t my favorite and I probably would pick the original over this one to read aloud to my classroom. I would recommend this book to be read to kindergarteners or 1st graders.

[Devon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picture Book Soak (One I can't wait to use in my classroom)

"The Boy Who Cried Wolf" is my all time favorite children's book and I have never had the pleasure of reading this opposing view story until now with my Picture Book Soak. I was so excited when I saw it in the library because I knew this would be a great book to use for -One I can't want to use in my classroom- because I know there are so many great lessons I could potentially do with the original story and this opposing one! The story went just as I expected, with the same theme and moral as the original, only with a wolf being the fibbing young character who learns a valuable lesson in the end about lying. I loved this book, especially because it not only goes great with the original story but also because it has great illusions to other great wolf folktales within it in the names of various dinner dishes such as “Three- Pig salad” and “Granny Smith Pie”.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Wolf Who Cried Boy by Bob Hartman was overall a good children's book. This book has a background from a tale told to young children as the boy who cried wolf. In this tale the wolf is the mischievous and daring one. Having read this book after I already knew of the original kind of enhanced the idea of never lying. As a child I knew I could get away with things if I fibbed a little here and there, but once I heard that story I cleaned up my act. Now after reading about the other side of the story it just goes to show that everyone fibs and it is not okay no matter who you are.
This book I think is a good way to show kids that lying is a bad thing and it can lead up to worse things. Bob Hartman is a pretty popular children's author and is a great writer. One thing that I think helps him write such compelling stories is how well he can turn reality into fantasy. That tactic is a way to show younger readers what reality is, but in a very light way.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute. Oddly sad that the wolf didn't get to eat the boy.

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hilarious.
Goes well w/"There's a hair in my dirt" Larsen, & Lois Lowry's Anastasia series.

[BunTheDestroyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super funny!

[Kristina Angelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

1. One observation while reading this book was the story alluded to "The Three Little Pigs", when the mother made three pig salad out of sticks, hay and brick. I enjoyed several of the author’s comical elements added into this story.
2. One connection I made while reading this story was that feeling of being a kid and loathing what was made for dinner. I remember hating when meatloaf was for dinner, but I’d still rather eat the meatloaf than have no dinner at all.
3. One question this story raised for me was, would young readers think it is okay to play jokes on their parents to avoid doing something they don’t like to do? Yes this story teaches a lesson about being dishonest, but could it also give an impression that it’s okay to try something like this? Only because the little wolf is bored and not wanting what is for dinner is why he chose to cry boy, I just wonder what impression it has on young and impressionable readers.
4. I was surprised that the mom and dad wolf in the story were so tame and happy with eating lamb and moose, I would have expected them to want to eat boy just as badly as the little wolf did. Especially when the boy was sitting on their couch, I would have expected them to at least smell him there.
5. This story was a very cute retelling of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", and I enjoyed reading it very much. Something that really made me giggle is the author’s creative meals that the wolf’s mom made, Lamburgers, Chocolate Moose, and Sloppy Does. The creativity makes the book fun and silly for the reader.

[Claudia Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a reversed version of the boy who cried wolf. In this story there is a wolf who hates the same old dinner his mom cooks. His father says they can’t have his favorite, boy, because they don’t come around that often anymore and its hard to pick one off a farm. So, the little wolf decides to yell boy on his way home. the father and mother come running, but they can’t find this imaginary boy. So, they go home and the dinner is ruined, so they eat snacks instead. This happens the next day until the father wolf hears the little wolf telling his friend about his plans. Then the next day the little wolf really see lots of boys, but the mother and father won’t listen because of the little wolf’s lies. So, the boys don’t get eaten and the wolf has to eat the same old dinner every night.
The story has a great retelling of the boy who cry wolf with a new and interesting twist. As most other boy who cried wolf variations, this teaches not to lie or people will not believe you when you tell the truth. The illustrations are really nice. Each of the wolves feels like they have a lot of character just from the way each of them is designed. A lot of the illustrations also go around the words, which gives a really neat effect to the pages. Also, the words are different sizes. Some words are larger and more bold then others. This helps put emphasis on certain words and really makes them pop from the page.

[Jenna Weaver · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I was extremely excited to read this story as I thought it would be a fun rendition of the classic story of the boy who cried wolf, I was quite disappointed to find that the book was actually a predictable story with no real moral. The story begins with a young wolf who wants to eat boy for supper instead of what his mother makes. Every day he comes into his cave shouting that there is a boy outside, sending his parents running to catch the non-existent boy and making the family eat snacks for dinner because the real dinner his mother prepared had overcooked. Then one day there really are boys outside, but wolf’s parents have caught onto his schemes and do not run outside. Little wolf has learned his lesson and happily eats the dinner his mother prepared. I suppose the moral could be to not "cry boy," but the reason why is what bothered me. The ending was disjointed as it did not show that the young wolf really learned his lesson, and his change of heart did not seem to connect well enough with the overall plot.
I did enjoy the lovely illustrations which created a perfect setting. The other slightly redeeming quality was the humorous names for wolf's mother's dinner dishes such as "granny smith pie" and "three pig salad." I would have this book in my class library, but would not choose it as a stand out book to read to the class.

[Molly Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wolf Who Cried Boy is a fun twist on the class book The Boy Who Cried Wolf - they both have the same plot, just switched up a little bit! The boy wolf is sick of eating his moms same cooking every single night, chipmunks and critters, he remembers back when they had human boy for dinner and wants that! The wolf boy decided to call out that he sees a human boy so the mother and father can catch him, but there is no boy out there all along and the wolf boy is just doing so to trick his parents & sabotage dinner! He does this act a couple times, the parents get angry after they realize their son is just lying to them. The third night the wolf boy cries boy, there actually is a boy, dozens of boys, a whole scout troop! The parents don't fall for it this time, ignoring their son. This really is a good book for younger students on lying/fibbing and making up stories. You can lie and lie over again but when you tell the truth, no one is going to believe you! I would recommend reading this aloud to a kindergarten/first grade class because the illustrations are big and bright. You can analyze the text with your students having them guess what's going to happen next!

[Hayden Delgado · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wolf Who Cried Boy is a funny, enjoyable story that relates to the popular story "The boy who cried wolf" but has its own turn on things. In The Wold Who Cried Boy, the little wolf was tired of having the same gross dinners over and over again from his parents and begged for them to make boy. His parents said it was too hard to go out looking for boys so little wolf had a plan. He tricked his parents thinking there was a boy outside twice just so they wouldn't have time to make dinner and they got to eat snacks instead. His parents found out about his plan and decided not to fall for his tricks anymore. The next day the little wolf actually found a GROUP of boys and one even came into his house and his parent still didn't believe him. I enjoyed this book and the illustrations made it even better by seeing the emotions on the wolfs faces. I believe children would love hearing this turn on the story because it flips the story around making it funny and not as realistic as the original one.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Wolf is tired of the same old dinners: Lamburgers, Sloppy Does, even chocolate Moose and Granny Smith Apple Pie. What he’s really in the mood for is a shepherd boy. Even his father reminisces about Boy Chops, Baked Boy-tato and Boys-n-Berry Pie, but it’s so hard to find a boy these days.

So, when Little Wolf is walking home the next day and smells the Three-Pig Salad (“I hate Three-Pig Salad!”), he decides to play a trick on his parents. He yells “Boy! Boy! ... If we hurry we can catch him!” So Mother and Father Wolf run outside and search everywhere, but can’t find a boy. And a bonus, at least to Little Wolf, is that the Three-Pig Salad is ruined, so they get snacks for dinner (Chipmunks and Dip.) So the next night, Little Wolf does the same thing. But after another dinner of snacks, Father Wolf overhears Little Wolf on the phone, telling his friend what he did.

So the next night, when there is an entire troop of Boy Scouts in the woods, no one will believe Little Wolf. Not even when one of the Boy Scouts wanders into their cave.

I love the illustrations.

[Mason Hazelwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little Wolf is not happy, his mother always makes the same food and things he doesn’t like. He wants to eat boy. His parents agree that if can find and capture a boy that they will cook it for him and have it for dinner. Little wolf sets out in search of boy and has no luck but tricks his parents into saying he found one and it ran away so he gets to eat snacks for dinner instead. This works a few times, until his parents become immune to his tricks and no longer believe him. As stories like this always have a moral in the end he finds a group of boy scouts and there are many boys they could have for dinner, but his parents no longer trust him and he is stuck eating the same old dinners because he had lied too many times before. This book is most age appropriate for students 7-9, and even more effective if they have read the boy who cried wolf to compare. As it would be a great activity in the class to compare and contrast two similar

[Sarah Kahleifeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The little wolf in this fairytale is tired of the same old meals that his mom has been cooking... Lamburgers and three pig salad? The wolf wanted something different and extravagant when it suddenly came to him. He wanted a boy! There were so many meals that they could make from that, but boys were so hard to come across. However, if the little wolf could find a boy, his mother would make a boy-meal for him. The little wolf did his duty of looking, mainly to get out of eating his meals, and he fooled his parents two times too many. What would happen when the little wolf actually saw a boy, after his parents caught on to what he had been doing? This is a very funny twist on the original tale, and kids can even look for the differences between the two stories. I would recommend this to kids aged 6-11.

[Arminzerella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little Wolf would really like his mom to make BOY instead of lamburgers and sloppydoes, but there aren't many boys to be had. So, one day, he gets the idea to pretend he's seen a boy - which gets his parents so excited they skip dinner entirely so they can chase after the apparition. Little Wolf has to have snacks instead (awwww). This is exactly how he likes things, so Little Wolf keeps up the charade - until his parents catch on. Naturally, that's the day the boy scout troop visits their neck of the woods, and no one will believe Little Wolf. Oh, well. He's got to learn to deal with dinner (and disappointment) at some point. Funny turnabout for little ones who are familiar with the original tale.

[Mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

A little too gruesome for my tastes. A young wolf really likes to eat boy, but his family hasn't had it in a while. He decides to cry out "Boy" out of boredom so his parents will try to catch one. He does this one too many times before he sees a troop of Boy Scouts marching through the forest. One actually comes into the wolf's house, but his parents will not look where he tells them to. The book is a good spoof on the traditional folktale, but no for those who are easily disgusted when thinking about cute little creatures being eaten, or people being eaten for that matter.

[Mendell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious little spin on a classic tale, The Wolf Who Cried Boy is an adorable little book. The story centers around a young wolf pup who is sick and tired of his mom's same old cooking. He decides that he can get out of dinner by yelling boy! boy! and like the classic tale, when a boy actually does show up, no one will believe him. It's a great book to teach students about the concept of a lie, also a great way to introduce concepts. The illustrator does a great job with the wolf, and I'm sure students will love it during story time. I recommend this book for 1st - 3rd grade.

[Laurie Clary · Rating 3 out of 5]

You've heard of the story, The Boy Who Cried Wolf? This is a hilarious version of the other side of the story. Wolf is bored and tired of the same old supper his mother cooks each night. He calls out "Boy! Boy!" on his way home from school and one day...uh oh! I like to use this book to compare and contrast the character traits of the boy and wolf and also discuss how the books are the same and different using a Venn diagram.

[Mary Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first time reading this book, and I loved the twist on the original story. Not only is this book fun to read, but children can also learn the importance of what lying does and why you should never lie. Overall, children will love the story, along with the illustrations which are beautifully done.

[Courtney Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful! Switching the folktale from the boy who cried wolf to the wolf who cried boy - very intriguing! I love the text, large print for exclamations (i.e. "There really is a boy!") and the clever vocabulary (lamburgers, sloppy does, etc.). And cute illustrations. Picture Book.

[Katelyn Douglass · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is another version of The Boy Who Cried Wolf. The moral of the story is to never lie because when you tell the truth, people won't believe you. I really liked the illustrations in the book.

[Sydney Huntington-Strohm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a wolf that hates the same thing all the time. He really wishes he could have a different dish being a boy. The wolf sends his parents on a hunt in the countryside to find a boy. And eventually, they get tuckered out and choose to always believe him no matter what.

[Margo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute.....I made up a story for my grandson many years ago about a wolf crying Boy!!! To bad I didn't write it down!!!!

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked this book. and i like short books. and i like books about animals. this book was good.

[Dest · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had my three-year-old cracking up, though I found it slightly disturbing as it's mostly jokes about eating human children.

[Kris Daise · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids loved this off-beat book! One of them was so afraid of it, though, I had to hide it until time to read.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute retelling of a classic fable with a role reversal to keep it fresh. The clever wordplay is appreciated, even if some of the puns are a little groan-worthy.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boy! We never have boy anymore!
BAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!