The Gunniwolf

The Gunniwolf should be in every home with children 7 and under. It was consistantly the favorite picture storybook for my kindergarten classes over a 20 year time span. The book was out of print for a long time, and I was delighted to see the book become available again. My only regret is that the wolf doesn't look a bit more scary in the new illustrations. The text is excellent for using voice inflections, and to incorporate movement via hand movements, nodding, etc. Why this story isn't better known is beyond me!

I'm familiar with the green and red version of this story, but I think this is almost the same text. My daughter loved this one when she was little, it's just a bit frightening because the Gunniwolf himself is so silly looking. I particularly like the dialogue with the quaint wording. It's different from most stuff published now.

We've gotten both this version and the original out from the library so many times that I had to buy our own copy. For some reason, my girls just love this story. They love the repetition of the song and the pit pat pit pat of Little Girl running away and the hunker cha hunker cha of the gunniwolf chasing her. They want me to read it again and again. And when I'm not reading it to them, although they are both preschool age, I hear them "reading" this book to each other.

What a shame that this classic children's tale is out-of-print. I was introduced to this story about five years ago and have shared it with many children along the way. I can almost see the Gunniwolf standing in front of me when I read the book aloud and his voice is a clear as a bell. What a joy to read. I only wish that I could give it as gifts to all of my friend's children.

My experience with using the Gunniwolf as a preschool teaching aid has been very successful. This tale of little girl and her forbidden, flower-picking adventure in the jungle evokes the imagination of children and inspires their dramatic play. The marvelous detail of this poetic emprise is a valuable tool for teaching critical thinking skills. The Gunniwolf successfully accentuates the importance of following the instructions of parents and caregivers. Little girl's jungle adventure provides the opportunity to teach the concept of a multicultural world with common issues among its people. The creative writing style of the author makes it simple to incorporate creative storytelling techniques that will enkindle children to request, listen to, and retell over and over again the story of little girl and the Gunniwolf.