The Gunniwolf by Wilhelmina Harper

Teach mapping and stranger safety

Looking for a book to thoroughly engage kindergarten and preschool children? The The Gunniwolf is certain to do that. The Gunniwolf also comes in other versions but my favorite illustrations are in the one shown below.

Young children love the unfamiliar language of the story... "Why for you move? I no move." It is a wonderful story that lends itself to student participation and is a great motivator for social studies activities.

Read similar tales such as Little Red Riding Hood and Lon Po Po and compare the stories.

Retell the story with student participation

After reading The Gunniwolf a few times, make cut outs of the house, the white flowers, the pink flowers, and the orange flowers and place them in a pocket chart.
Print out the words "Kum-kwa, Khi-wa" (great for teaching the letter "k") , the words "pit-pat, pit-pat... " and the words "hunker-cha, hunker-cha...".
Assign different students to chant the different parts of the story, for example the girls could sing the "Kum-kwa, Khi-wa" part" and the boys chant the "hunker-cha, hunker-cha...".

Read parts from the book and have the children fill in as much as they can remember.
After reading the story, discuss stranger safety, and the purpose of following rules.

Mapping the Gunniwolf

Talk about the flowers as landmarks for the little girl to find her way home. Compare the jungle environment of the book with the parks around your neighborhood, how are they the same, different.

Reproduce the free story map and the little girl and the fox on to lightweight card
Children cut out the little girl and the fox, tape a piece of string to the back of each and to the back of the story map
Let the children move the characters around as they retell the story alone or with a friend

Make a story comparison chart

Photocopy and reduce book covers
Glue to the left hand side of the chart
Print, color and glue the free category pictures at the top
Put stickers in appropriate book rows
Count how many books have good wolves, bad wolves, parents, children who don't listen to their parents, etc.

Art or Drama

Print, color and cut out the free Gunniwolf mask and act out the story
Extend class participation by adding rhythm instruments. I gave each group a different sounding shaker to use as they said their story parts

Read similar stories

Purchase the books below from Amazon.com

	Lon Po Po by Ed Young - A Chinese version of the Red Riding Hood story. The story is useful as a comparison with the regular Little Red Riding Hood. Compare the art with other wolf stories. Which looks the scariest? Less scary?
	In this old-fashioned version of a familiar tale, Little Red Riding Hood sets out in her red cloak to bring Mother's chicken soup and raisin muffins to her ailing Grandmother.
	Purchase THE GUNNIWOLF retold by Wilhelmina Harper
	Hattie and the Fox (Stories to Go!) Hattie knows she sees something scary in the bushes, but nobody is paying attention. Not the goose, not the pig, not the sheep, not the horse, not the cow. Time and again Hattie tries to warn her friends of danger, but no one listens -- until it's almost too late!
	This version of the Gunniwolf is illustrated by Barbara Upton.The Gunniwolf
	Wolf Island The story explains the food chain based on an actual event. Use "Wolf Island" to teach about the environment

More social studies and history books for 3 to 5 year olds...

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