This book puzzles me. A friend told me this week the Teacher-Librarian at her grandson's school offered this book as something truly special to young students in Grade One. Her grandson "won" this book and he was thrilled but really is this book for children as young as six? I know books should extend the reader's experiences but I am not sure many children would have encountered a bell boy in the lift of a very fancy hotel - do such things still exist?
Reading Time ended their review with the words: Recommended for lower primary ages.
Wolfred is given a job as a lift attendant. He is not allowed to speak or interact with the celebrity guests. His only outlet comes from writing stories each day about his observations. He posts these, via paper planes, to people in a nearby apartment building. Is this a reference to tabloid news or gossip columns? Eventually the boss, who is a real pig, discovers the stories and Wolfred is fired. On the same night the boss is pignapped and it is Wolfred who saves the day because he recognises the thieves are wearing a disguise. They are crocodiles dressed as sheep!
Wolfred is one of those books with lots of references to other books (Intertextuality). To understand the references in this book readers need to know about:
The trope of wolves in literature
How are wolves portrayed in stories? Wolves in folktales like Little Red Riding Hood, Peter and the Wolf, and The Boy Who Cried Wolf are portrayed as cruel and cunning. Phrases like “a wolf in sheep's clothing,” “throw them to the wolves,” and “cry wolf” all paint a picture of wolves as malicious creatures.
King Kong
Wolf in sheep's clothing (in this case though the baddies are crocodiles) - a reference to Red Riding Hood - their teeth and their tails were too long. And of course WolfRed - he is wearing a red suit
Little Bo Peep
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Readers also need to understand puns such as "Fancy Pants Tower"; "the boss was a pig"; and "never say boo to a ghost". The title is a play on words too.
There are visual jokes too - the lion is wearing an ermine cloak and a crown; the Fancy Pants Tower has a neon light shaped like fancy pants - is this a reference to the Trump Tower? The tortoises have lightning blot images on their caps (a reference to the hare and the tortoise by Aesop); the lift goes as high as the moon (bear in an astronaut suit) and down under the ocean. There is an image which references Chinese New Year and the hint that a dragon set a tree outside the lift on fire.
There is an tone to this story about the rich and poor divide and about privilege and the class system in society. You also need to notice all the pot plants that Wolfred has been cultivating. Here are some STEM ideas based on Wolfred. I recently talked about another book by Nick Bland - Walk of the Whales.
Nick Bland has another book about abuse of power and reforming of a character:
If you use Wolfred with a group of older students - Grade 4 and up you could then look at this book:
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