The Boy, the Wolf, the Sheep and the Lettuce

by Allan Ahlberg, Jessica Ahlberg (Illustrator)

You may think you know the riddle of the boy, the wolf, the sheep and the lettuce, but this book will prove you wrong. Read Allan Ahlberg's SHOCKING EXPOSE of the truth behind a story we think we all know, Wolf horror! Canoe shock! Fibbing! Exclusive Lettuce revelations! Moments of brilliant and unforgettable beauty! You'll never think of boys, wolves, sheep, lettuces OR riddles in the same way again.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Humor

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Allan Ahlberg was one of the UK's most acclaimed and successful authors of children's books - including the best-selling Jolly Postman series. Born in Croydon in 1938, he was educated at Sunderland Technical College. Although he dreamed of becoming a writer since the age of twelve, his route to that goal was somewhat circuitous. Other jobs along the way included postman (not an especially jolly one, he recalls), gravedigger, plumber, and teacher.

Ahlberg wrote his first book when he was thirty-seven, after a decade of teaching - a profession that he maintains is "much harder" than being a writer. He says that if he hadn't become a writer, he would have loved to be a soccer player. He was married for many years to fellow children's author Janet Ahlberg, with whom he often worked. Their daughter, Jessica Ahlberg, is also a children's author.

Reviews

[Gabby · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just had no idea what was going on.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved reading this.

Ahlberg has such a knack for creating loveable characters and quirky scenarios, and in this case it's a flustered but determined writer who tells the story of researching the book we are reading. The story itself is practically irrelevant (though charming) as it's really the narrator we're laughing at all the way through.

The narrator doesn't talk down to his junior fiction audience so there's plenty that the younger reader won't understand. (For example some philosophical references and lovely quotes that would require a lot of thought from the younger reader.) But these are not 'sly winks' at all. They're totally up front. It's a bit like having a chat with your amiable uncle (or aunt!) when you're only 7 and you don't understand much of what is being said, but get the gist of it. Enough to enjoy the conversation and find it wonderfully stimulating.

It was a nice antidote to the very dark book I'd read just beforehand :-)

[Alys · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like the tone at first but it really grew on me.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grappig geschreven met alle aanwezige perspectieven en overdenkingen van de schrijver.

[Jvermeersch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Veel bla bla, gemijmer, getwijfel - meer dan 90% van het boek dient puur om duidelijk te maken dat je de schrijver niet te sterk op zijn woord moet geloven.
Hier en daar wel een creatieve ingeving.
Niet slecht, maar ook niet het herlezen waard voor mij.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointing. Knowing that Ahlberg has written so many great children’s books, I was intrigued by this one. And at first glance it looked witty and amusing. But having read the whole book now, I can’t figure out who the intended audience is. The writing style is too complex for children, unappealing to teenagers, and too feeble for adults! And although there are a few genuinely funny passages, the book soon becomes repetitive and boring.

[Catherine MacLeod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really funny and clever. Shows different points of view and how different character's narratives may be dishonest or untrustworthy, shows children that you can't always trust what you're told in books and need to use your own inference to figure out what you do and don't believe. Also quite absurd. Would be a fun one to read to year 3-4 children. Also has nice illustrations

[Fon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its alright. (see Notion for more)
Interesting way of rewriting the classic riddle -- how to get wolf, sheep, amd lettuce across the river when the raft can only take 2 at a time. What indeed actually happened (included some sense of 推理 and mystery in it).This was what caught my interest at first.

If I was a children, i think i will give it a 4 star. But for now, its too much chitty-chatty stuff...

[Joy Slykhuis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely hilarious tale of the "real" story behind the riddle. So subversively funny, it really is for older kids, as the younger ones won't get the humour.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations and the various quotes were my favorite parts of the book.

[Gijs Grob · Rating 5 out of 5]

gelezen in de vertaling van Sandra van de Ven.

Origineel kinderboek waarin de schrijver wil weten wat er nu precies gebeurde toen het fameuze raadsel plaatsvond. Hij interviewt de betrokkenen (de jongen, het schaap en de wolf), maar die vertellen allemaal een ander verhaal, net als de personages in Akutagawa's 'In het bos' (Rashomon and Seventeen Other Stories)...

Een heerlijk nonsenskinderboek, waarin de schrijver maar doorkwebbelt als de personages in Diderots 'Jacques de fatalist en zijn meester' (Jacques the Fatalist). Een verhaal is er dan ook nauwelijks, maar en passant krijgt de lezer (met wie de schrijver ook in discussie gaat zoals de verteller in Ljoebimov van Abram Terts (The Makepeace Experiment)) wel de filosofische boodschap mee dat de waarheid onkenbaar is, al is het alleen maar omdat de verteller zelf soms in het vage blijft en bijv. het verhaal van de sla uit zijn duim zuigt...

Voeg hier aan toe opmerkelijke citaten en het is duidelijk dat dit vrolijke en grappige boekje stiekem literairder is dan je dacht. Bovenstaande literaire vergelijkingen zijn dan ook geen poeha. Dit boekje overleeft deze fier.

[Raj · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a short kids' book, wrapping a 'mystery' narrative around the old puzzle of the boy who has to cross a river with a wolf, sheep and lettuce in a boat only big enough for one item at a time. There's not much to it and I found the narrator incredibly annoying, but at least it was mercifully short.

[Georgia Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intriguing tale of what REALLY happened between the boy, the wolf, the sheep and the lettuce. Deep insights into the nature of interviewing and reality.Found it a bit difficult to breathe due to laughter through the majority of it.