This book is an ode to the fable “The boy who cried wolf.” In that story the child falsely yells that there is a wolf attacking his sheep on more than one occasion. Eventually when the real wolf shows up the townspeople do not believe the boy and the wolf eats his sheep and the little boy. In John Rocco’s the wolf is too old to hunt for his food and instead is coming to town to ask for food. When he discovers the child is falsely telling the townspeople that he has appeared the wolf devises a plan to get one of the goats. When the child delivers the goat an unexpected friendship is developed. This book was not my favorite but, it was a nice story to read. The plot of the story did not have the same impact as the other stories written by the same author. I think it had to do with the subject matter. The story has been told many times so I knew the outcome of the story before I read it. I also felt that the so call “twist” at the end of the book was not as appealing. Another aspect of the story that I did not like was the use of “Asian” influence in the illustrations. There are stereotypical depictions of Asian culture that some may find insulting. I think this books main idea is that in life there are many twist and turns and it is our responsibility to “roll with the punches”. And also to not give false alarms! ( )

This was a pretty good book, certainly the kind where things work out a lot better than your traditional fairy tale. The illustrations are vibrant and lively, very convincing and detailed though in a more cartoonish manner than a realistic portrait style that some artists go for. The whole story was quietly entertaining and enjoyable. I had a good time with the entire thing. ( )

A twist on the old classic fable of the boy who cried wolf. The wolf is an old wolf who lives high in the mountains planting and weeding his garden hoping one day to have a garden full of vegetables. Why weeding, he hears "Wolf! Wolf!" in the distance and picks up his can and sets out to determine if the second wolf has some extra food to share. Instead of a second wolf, he discovers a little boy herding sheep who calls "Wolf!" for attention and not danger. With the use of some trickery, the wolf convinces the boy to give him one of his sheep; however, in a twist the wolf realizes the good use of the sheep and he forgets his dream of double-goat dumplings. The story is accompanied by great and detailed illustrations of China that will capture any reader's attention and are very expressive. I also enjoyed the twist on a Aesop's tale and feel that children would enjoy this book to read on their won or as a read-aloud. ( )

I love this book! As the title suggests it's a retelling of The Boy Who Cried Wolf but with a twist. The old wolf is so hungry and talks the boy into letting him have a goat since the villagers don't truly believe he's there. The ending is just sublime, but I'm not going to spoil it for you.

One of the best children's books I've read in a while (and I'm continuously reading them). I'm not a huge fan of John Rocco and have requested all of his other books. ( )

I liked this book.

It tells a story with "the boy who cried wolf" embedded within it. But the wolf is a little more humane, and the ending is has nice "Casablanca" twist

Also, the art is just lovely. ( )