Wolf by Sara Fanelli

Wolf by Sara Fanelli
Wolf by Sara Fanelli

today’s children storybook summary is

Wolf

By Sara Fanelli

Storyline: Wolf is a story about dealing with prejudice and exclusion, and learning from it. About trying to fit in and, ultimately, despite rejection, remaining positive.

Wolf is, as you may correctly think, a wolf. He has black fur, red eyes, gray teeth(?) and colored boots, one red, one yellow. He wants to make new friends so he goes for a walk in the city. But the city people, let’s call them citi(zens), have some problem with that. They want no wolf roaming the streets.

First, Wolf meets a woman looking for her glasses (of course she can’t see them laying on the street, with their red frame). But he finds them for her and now, that she sees better, what do you think she’d do? Say thank you? No. She starts chasing him.

Then, Wolf helps a man under a car to be fixed, by handing him the right tools. The job is done and the man comes up. Instead of gratitude, the man is joining the chase.

Next, Wolf is invited to join a group of kids playing with masks. And he is finally happy. But not for long. At the end, the kids take off their masks, waiting for Wolf to do the same thing. And guess what? Yes. They run away screaming.

Ah, but that gives Wolf an idea…what if he had a mask, any mask, maybe de city people would be nicer to him. So, with a mask on his face he goes to the barber for a haircut. Bad idea, the barber chases him with the razor. One other encounter with the hose of a gardener and Wolf is ready to give up making new friends in the city.

But faith had another turn for him. Just around the corner, on his way home, he sees someone smiling at him. It is a girl wolf. He tells her what had happened to him in the city, and, as by accident, all the people that were after him are now listening to his story. And sympathizing with him, they blame themselves for being mean and wrong, in general.

And what a happy end! They all go in the forest for a picnic (and we hope there won’t be any casualties).

Characters: Wolf, the lady with the glasses, the man with the car, kids, the barber, the gardener, the female wolf.

Illustration: Sara Fanelli is also the illustrator of this book. I must mention from the beginning that this is not a typical illustration. Her visuals are done in collage technique, combining drawings, sketches, newspaper cuts and old plain color painting to tell the story. The text has different fonts type and sizes, sometime in the same sentence and word. I guess it is the artists way of emphasizing certain actions and induce particular emotion. Also, the even the main character changes slightly from page to page, another clue for the situation on that specific page. I would conclude that, as unusual as this illustration may be, it is also very efficient in complementing the text and making the story transcend the page. Uniquely put together, that’s how I’d describe the art of Sara Fanelli.

Recommended Age: 5 – 7

Reading Time: 4-5 minutes

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