The Boy Who Cried Wolf - Hardcover

B. G. Hennessy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689874332 ISBN 13: 9780689874338

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2006

Synopsis

"Nothing ever happens here," the shepherd thinks. But the bored boy knows what would be exciting: He cries that a wolf is after his sheep, and the town's people come running. How often can that trick work, though?
B.G. Hennessy's retelling of this timeless fable is infused with fanciful whimsy through Boris Kulikov's hilarious and ingenious illustrations. This tale is sure to leave readers grinning sheepishly.

About this title

About the Author

B.G. Henessy is the author of more than thirty children's books. For many years she worked as an art director at a major children's book publisher in New York, and now she lives on Mummy Mountain in Paradise Valley, Arizona, with her husbands and sons. Visit her Web site at www.bghennessy.com

Boris Kulikov, a former set and costume designer in St. Petersburg, Russia, was chosen as a Flying Start by Publishers Weekly. He has also illustrated Morris the Artist by Lore Segal, The Perfect Friend by Yelena Romanova, and Carnival of Animals by John Lithgow. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

Starred Review. PreSchool-Grade 2–Aesops The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf is given new life in this imaginative picture book. The story begs to be read aloud, and the large, colorful, and amusing watercolor-and-gouache paintings are perfect for group viewing. The traditional plot has been expanded to include some catchy refrains: Munch, munch, munch. Baaaaaaaaaaaaa, answered the sheep, and They looked everywhere for the wolf. No wolf in the pasture. No wolf on the hill. No wolf in the forest. These sheep have big expressive eyes and play leapfrog and put on blindfolds, and boys ride them. Instead of just one, there are three snarling, famished-looking creatures that finally appear when the shepherd boy cries wolf for a third time. The illustrations show an outlandish village with skyscrapers located on what appears to be a plateau in a landscape that is dotted with conical hills and a funny, discordant mix of townspeople that includes a knight running in his armor, women wearing mesh stockings and high lace boots, one man wearing a top hat and another a helmet with fluffy feathers on the top, one with a musketeer hat, and another a baseball cap. Each one is holding a weapon: the usual rakes and shovels, an umbrella, a baseball bat, and even a barber pole. The story ends with a fanciful twist, and the moral is understood but not included. A clever take on an old favorite.–Kirsten Cutler, Sonoma Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Hennessy retells this classic tale of the shepherd boy who finds his sheep-watching responsibility too tedious. In this modern version the boy despairs over "boring" days���without excitement and without friends. Young listeners will simply enjoy the story. Older ones who are familiar with the original will wonder what the outcome will be as the shepherd boy masterminds a new routine. Peter Scolari's narration carefully differentiates all the story's characters���narrator, boy, sheep, and townsfolk. The humor that is so evident in artist Kulikov's fresh illustrations comes shining through in Scolari's vocalizations���sheep who baaaaaa and "munch"; wolves who see nothing but "lunch, lunch, lunch"; a despondent boy with moments of inspiration; and an omnipotent narrator. A.R. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

PreS-Gr. 1. Children who may have heard their parents reference the boy who cried wolf (without a clue about what they were talking about) get a very funny version of the story here. The plot is the familiar one, but humorous embellishments abound. "I am the most bored boy in the world," the shepherd says (as he's picking his nose), so, for a little excitement, he runs into the town yelling, "Wolf! Wolf! Wolf." The people answer his frenzied cries twice but ignore him the third time, when three hungry wolves actually appear. Along with the text's funny moments, Kulikov milks the situation in the art. He uses a variety of perspectives, a couple of which almost put the boy in the reader's lap, and his watercolor-and-gouache artwork teases many laughs from the sheep, whose expressions range from adoring to alarmed. This also has great energy, especially when the townspeople run hither and yon. The ending is a little flat, but at least^B the sheep end up in a tree rather than a wolf's stomach. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

By B. G. Hennessy

Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Copyright © 2006 Simon & Schuster, Inc.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-689-87433-8

Chapter One

One of the shepherd boy's friends stayed with him for the rest of the day to make sure the wolf was really gone.

"That was a fun afternoon," thought the shepherd boy.

But the next day ...

Munch, munch, munch.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Life in the pasture was back to boring again.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The Boy Who Cried Wolfby B. G. Hennessy Copyright ©2006 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0689874332
• ISBN 13: 9780689874338
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Boris Kulikov
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40