The Wolf Figure In Children’s Stories

Do you want to know why the wolf has always played a big role in children’s stories? We tell you all about this peculiar character and his role in the stories.

It’s generally bad, but there are exceptions. The wolf figure in children’s stories has always played an undisputed role throughout history.

This villain is part of the narrative tradition of several countries. Little Red Riding Hood, The Wolf and the Sete Goats, The Three Little Pigs and Pedro and the Wolf are examples of children’s stories that have the wolf as the bad guy in the story, which always shows a lesson.

And not just in books because many of these stories were reproduced in movies, where the wolf figure is still present. In cartoons like Road Runner there is also a wolf character who ends up being an important part of the plot.

The wolf figure in children’s stories: the antagonist

The wolf figure in children’s stories is associated with the attack of lambs and sheep, but also with man. His presence instills a fear inspired by the oral tradition that links him with danger, malice, betrayal and distrust.

The peasants of small villages, who had the wolf as the main threat to their herds, created the stories. In the long hours of grazing, they accumulated many fears. The fear of venturing into the woods and being devoured by herds of hungry wolves is one of them.

Making the wolf the bad character in the story was therefore not complicated. At the same time, the narratives allowed for warning about the dangers of the countryside and the need to respect the rules.

Children’s stories come from this ancient oral tradition. They stimulate children’s imaginations and convey important messages such as not relating to strangers. Aesop’s fables, short and amusing, give lessons in honesty and solidarity.

the bad always loses

In The Three Little Pigs , the wolf attacks each of the houses that the little pigs built to feel safe. The wolf manages to destroy the straw and wood house with its blow. But it can’t destroy the brick one. When he tries to enter through the chimney, he is greeted with a container of boiling water. The wolf runs away without eating any of the three protagonists.

In Little Red Riding Hood , the wolf eats the grandmother and tries to do the same thing with the girl. A hunter stops him and leaves the wolf with a belly full of stones at the bottom of a river.

In O Lobo eo Sete Cabritinhos , the villain tricks seven little goats that were alone at home. He manages to eat six of them, but the last one runs away and tells his mother what happened.

Immediately, the mother goes to look for the wolf in the forest, where she finds him sleeping. She opens the wolf’s belly, takes her six children out of it, and fills the animal’s stomach with stones. When, after waking up, the wolf approaches a river to drink water, he falls under the weight of the rocks and drowns.

In Pedro eo Lobo , a little shepherd made fun of people who were going to help him when he shouted “Here comes the wolf!”, but it was a lie. He did this so many times that when the animal actually came, no one came to help him.

the good wolf story

Some modern stories have transformed the role of the wolf from bad to good. These characters are already part of children’s culture today.

In Jon Scieszka’s The Three Little Pigs , the wolf actually wanted to bake a birthday cake for his grandmother. Looking for a borrowed cup of sugar, he reached the straw and wooden house that had fallen on their own.

The two residents of the house died. And faced with this situation, the wolf ate them to not let the food spoil. When he arrived at the brick house, he was angry that the little pig had insulted his grandmother. So he tried to enter the house, but at that moment the police arrived and stopped him.

Another big hit: The Jungle Book

Joseph Rudyard Kipling, author of The Jungle Book, attributed another image to the wolf figure in children’s stories. Mogli, the protagonist, is taken in by a pack of wolves after being abandoned in the wild. He was taken in by an extremely protective mother and the alpha male of the group. They managed to make the child able to face the dangers of the jungle alone.

The wolf figure in children’s stories has always had a privileged place. Whether good or bad, this character has always conveyed messages that teach children interesting lessons.