Gunnywolf

Grade 1, West Elementary School, Daingerfield, Texas

Once upon a time a Little Girl lived beside the deep, dark woods. The sign beside the woods said “Keep Out” because the Gunnywolf lived there. Nobody went into the woods.

One day the Little Girl saw some beautiful flowers growing in the woods. She went just inside the woods and picked the flowers and as she picked the flowers she sang a lovely song. She saw more and even more flowers and went further into the deep, dark woods singing and picking flowers. Just then she looked up and there was the Gunnywolf. He said Little Girl sing that sweet song for me. So in a tiny voice, she sang and the Gunnywolf yawned and fell fast asleep, “ Zzzzzzzzzzz.” The Little Girl was so scared she ran quickly, “pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat” through the woods. The Gunnywolf awakened and ran after her, “un-ka-cha, un-ka-cha” until he caught up with her. He said Little Girl sing that sweet song for me again. So she sang and the Gunnywolf fell asleep and did not move. She ran “pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat” until she exited out of the woods right into her own house. The Little Girl never went into the woods again.

We read a couple of different versions of the folk tale. My students like the version where the Little Girl sang the alphabet song and had to sing it several times before getting out of the woods. After that she could go pick flowers in the woods as long as she sang the alphabet song.