The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids

I wrote this as part of a blog post and didn't want to see it go to waste. I'm 41 years old, and my mother can still quote large sections of the book from memory because I begged her to read it to me so many times! I believe that this story has really helped to shape my life for the better, even though I would grow up to fall for the deception of a wolf that had all the appearances of being safe. I'm so glad that I had this story so deeply engrained in me when I did. "The Wolf and the Seven Kids" was about an evil wolf that, despite the mother goat's wise instruction about how to spot wolves, deceived her seven baby goat "kids" while she was away. That wolf uses some very clever, deceptive tricks to break into the home and devour all but one of the kids. With the wolf asleep in the backyard of mother goat's house, the one little survivor who had hidden in the base of a grandfather clock told his mother what had happened. Mother goat goes into the yard, cuts open the belly of the (apparently very profoundly tired wolf), liberates her children who were saved from being swallowed whole. The kids find six rocks to replace in the void of the wolf's stomach, and the mom sews the wolf shut (before he wakes up) with the sewing kit that the kid who hid in the clock brought to her. The wolf awakens saying "What is this that knocks against my poor bones? I thought it was kids, but it feels more like stones!" He thirstily hobbles over to a well to draw out some water and falls in - to his death - instead. Mother goat and her baby kids join hands and dance around that well, rejoicing that their foe had been conquered, all resulting from the effects of his own actions." If they're are any Christians out there, you are welcome to come and read my blog post about the book. Some of the elements don't relate to the book, but I do talk of the impact of the moral message on my life. http://undermuchgrace.blogspot.com/2007/12/christmas-monikers-and-cat-in-box-for.html

This is one of the great books I've grew up with and during these days it's hard to find any good books to read for children that actually have a moral point. This story teaches your kids the dangers of talking to a stranger. Although it's a bit scary, it's a good story for kids out there to alert them the dangers of the world involving strangers. The illustrations are beautiful and enjoyable for kids It features a goat with seven kids (like the title suggested), warning them of not opening the door to anyone but her, because a wolf is looking any ways to gobble them up, by hook or by crook, while she's going away for a while into the forest to look for for food. As expected the wolf came and tried so many ways to tricked the kids to open the door. When he finally complished this, he gobbled them all up, except for the youngest kid, who managed to hide itself somewhere. Both of them found the wolf and a graphic scene of the mother goat cutting the wolf up to save her kids and replacing them with rocks before she sew it back up.

The Wolf and the Seven Kids is an excellent story to use for children when teaching them about the dangers of talking to strangers. The illustrations in this story are vibrant and grab the readers attention. Even though there is a graphic scene where the wolf eats six of the seven kids the mother saves her children by cutting them out of the wolf's stomach with a pair of scissors and then fills his stomach with rocks and sews him up. This shows the mother as the hero because she saves her children. This is an excellent story but I would be careful about reading it to younger children because they may get scared when the wolf eats the kids.

Ann Blades' version of this familiar Grimm tale is delightful. It took me back to my childhood, when I spent many happy hours studying my books of Grimm's fairy tales. The soft-edged, colorful drawings are appealing and playful. I consider this a very nice book, and have ordered several as gifts.