The Truce of the Wolf and Other Tales of Old Italy

by Mary Gould Davis

The first story in this book is retold from the "Fioretti" of St. Francis of Assisi. "Calandrino and the pig" is from the "Decameron" of Boccaccio. The last three stories are adapted from "Legends of Florence" by C.G. Leland.

Genres: Juvenile

125 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1931

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Newbery Honor books is a collection of tales and stories from "old" Italy. The first "Truce" is retold from the "Fioretti" (def. little flowers, i.e. chapters, from the "Actus") of St. Francis of Assisi and is the story of a village ravaged by a wolf which enlists the saint who brokers a truce between the village and the wolf pretty much as the title suggests. There is another wolf story (a folktale), three tales adapted from Leland's "Legends of Florence", and "Calandrino and the Pig" from Bocaccio's Decameron (my least favorite). And then there's my pick "The Tale of Nanni", the story of a very wise donkey. While I would have enjoed this as a child, I think this is another of the early Newberys/Honors that would probably not be published today. How many adults today have read any of the Decameron (14th c), yet this 1931 book introduces it to children? Read for my 2017 Reading Challenge and my Newbery Challenge.

[Amber Scaife · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of Italian folktales, retold for kids.
Not fabulous, but not awful, either.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick book with seven stories in it. I enjoyed the stories, though a couple of them were coming from a culture different enough that the morals didn't make a whole lot of sense.

[Desiree']

1932 Newbery honor book

[Alyson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little old Newbery--see https://www.eatreadandbemommy.com/202... for details!

[Monica Fastenau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the full review here: http://newberyandbeyond.com/newbery-r...

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Francis of Assisi gets a wolf to make a truce with the town of Gubbio that they will feed the wolf and the wolf will stop attacking the townspeople.

A wise donkey named Nanni saves the life of a padre.

A wolf makes a deal with Maria that she will pick up sticks for her if Maria will give her risotto, but Maria and Pietro end up eating most of the risotto.

Bruce and Beffelmacco steal Calandrino's pig and get away with it.

A witch causes a couple to have a boar for a child. The boar grows up and marries a woman, and if she can keep it a secret, he can become a man at night and see her. She doesn't keep the secret, and she gets turned into a frog and he has to go back to being a boar forever.

A goblin says he will only give up his gold if someone can bring him a rose in January, so Brother Anselmo gets a woman to make him a rose and an apothecary to give it scent.

A witch steals a girl, Artemisia. When Artemisia grows up, she wants to marry Ugo, but the witch turns Artemisia into a cow. Ugo figures out what is going on, and a magician helps him turn Artemisia back into a woman and defeat the witch.

I liked the stories in this story where there was a resolution, like Francis of Assisi making a truce between the wolf and the townspeople, or Ugo defeating the witch. But I felt a lot of the stories had unsatisfying endings, like Bruno and Beffelmacco getting away with stealing the pig, or the wife being unable to keep a secret and the man having to be a boar forever. So I liked some of this book, but some of it I didn't like.

[Thomas Bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I've read worse, but that doesn't mean these were good. This book is a small collection of stories taken from medieval Italy. The first one, The Truce of The Wolf, is okay. The others aren't quite as good. One ends with the moral being you can never trust a woman to keep a secret. Another ends with 'and if I told you what happened, this story would take too long.' The book is an easy read though, so it's not too much of a waste of time.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather interesting collection of stories. I don't think I've read any of these elsewhere.

[Scott Williams]

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