The Boy Who Cried Wolf

We are learning to retell a story:


THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF: a fable


Patrick was a cheeky boy who liked to play tricks on people. When Patrick left school Mr Turnip the farmer gave him a job looking after the sheep. Patrick had to sit high on a hill looking out for a wolf that might try to attack the sheep. If Patrick saw the wolf he had to blow his horn and call for the villagers to come and help.

After a few weeks there was no sign of the wolf and Patrick was growing bored so he decided to blow the horn and pretend that the wolf was there. When the villagers heard Patrick blowing the horn they all came running up the hill with their weapons. When they got to Patrick there was no sign of the wolf, Patrick had tricked them.

A few weeks later Patrick was starting to grow bored again and decided to blow his horn. The villagers thought the wolf was there and they all came running to help. When they found out that Patrick was tricking them they got really, really angry. Skulk the wolf had been watching what was going on. He came up with a plan to attack the sheep. Skulk thought the villagers wouldn’t come to help because they wouldn’t believe Patrick when he blew his horn.

When Skulk came to eat the sheep Patrick blew his horn and shouted for help. The villagers didn’t come because they didn’t believe him. Patrick kept blowing his horn and shouting for help. The villagers decided to give him one more chance and ran up the hill to see what was going on. The villagers saw the wolf and chased him away. Patrick promised not to tell any more lies, forever – and he didn’t!

Retold by Room 13 children