Reading Notes: The Cunning Wolf (B)

 Source: The Cunning Wolf

By Ellen C. Babbitt

The people of a town all celebrated a holiday in the woods, however ate all their meat before noontime. This can symbolize some greed and foreshadow a problem in the future. I like the use of foreshadowing here and I could use it in many of my stories!

So a man volunteered to get more meat to feed the people. He went to a pond to play dead with a club. He chose the pond because it is where animals drink water and are often vulnerable. I do not believe in hunting animals in this extreme kind of vulnerability, so I am not rooting for the man and I hope he will get outsmarted by the wolf. This is an interesting tactic in a story where people with different opinions will support different characters. So far I have always had an obvious hero and obvious villain. I like how this story allows the reader to support a character based on their opinions.

So when the king of the wolves came by, he decided to pull a trick on the man by pulling on the club. He knew that if the man was dead, the club would have slid right out. When the club didn't, the wolf knew he wasn't dead and had enough time to run away. For me, I was happy the wolf escaped because the people should not have eaten all their food!

But others could feel bad for the people since they no longer had any food. My favorite part of this story was how different people could support different characters! What a creative way to write a story!

Can't outsmart this wolf!