This is the whole tale, the same ten pages it runs in Pillowbook on the phone. Read it here tonight if that is easier. Nothing is cut, nothing asks you to sign up, and every picture was painted for this book.
Reading time is about five minutes at an unhurried pace, one page every thirty seconds or so. The wolf gets in by trickery and the kids hide. All seven are found.
The goat had seven children and each one had a scarf of a different colour, which was how she got through the mornings. One Tuesday she had to go to market, so she stood in the doorway with the sun behind her and said the two things she always said: bolt the door, and open it for nobody but me. The seven waved her down the lane."How will we know?" said the one in the yellow scarf, who liked to be sure. Their mother said that was easy. She had a soft voice, and they knew it. And she had white feet, which they could look at through the gap under the door. Anybody with a rough voice or a dark paw was somebody else. Then she went, and the bolt went across behind her.It was not an hour before somebody knocked. "Open the door, children," said a voice like a cartwheel going over gravel. "Your mother is home with something for each of you." The seven looked at one another across the kitchen. Then all of them at once said that their mother did not sound like that, and that he should go away, and he did, for the time being.The wolf went down to the shop and ate a whole lump of chalk, which is not pleasant, and it did what he wanted it to do. He came back up the hill and knocked again, and this time the voice through the door was soft and quite reasonable. But he had put one paw up on the window sill while he waited, and the paw was grey and very large."That is not our mother's foot," said the one in the green scarf, "our mother's foot is white," and they did not open. So the wolf went round to the mill, and put both front paws in the flour bin, and came out looking like something that had been iced for a party. He walked back up the hill on the sides of his feet, being careful.The third time the voice was soft and the paw on the sill was white, and the smallest one said afterwards that she had known anyway, but nobody was listening to the smallest one just then. The bolt went back. The door came in with the wolf behind it. Seven kids went in seven directions at once, which is the only thing that saves anybody.One got under the table, one behind the door, one into the cupboard, one under the washtub, one into the woodbox, one flat behind the curtain. The youngest ran for the tall clock in the corner, got the case open, climbed in among the weights, and pulled it shut. Then the kitchen was completely quiet, and the wolf stood in the middle of it.He was too pleased with himself to search properly. He looked in the pot. He looked up the chimney and got soot on his chalk-white paws. He said "come out" twice in a friendly voice, which never works. Then he decided they must have gone with their mother, and went out to the yard, and lay down under the pear tree, and fell asleep.When the goat came up the lane the door was open and the house was silent, and she stood in her own kitchen and could not make a sound. Then the clock case creaked, and one eye looked out at her, and then the whole of the smallest one. After that they came out of everywhere — the tub, the woodbox, the cupboard — all talking at the same time.They took every pot and lid in the house out to the pear tree and let go all at once. The wolf came off the ground with all four feet, went over the wall without touching it, and was last seen at the top of the hill still gathering speed. They had supper very late, with the lamp lit and the door bolted, and seven scarves on seven pegs by the door.
The end.
Read any of the 12 tonight, free
12 classic fairy tales, ten painted pages each, one story an evening. No sign-up before you can read.
Yes. All ten pages of The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids are on this page, each with the illustration that belongs to it. Nothing is held back for the app.
Is it suitable for a three year old?
It is written for children between three and eight. The wolf gets in by trickery and the kids hide. All seven are found.
How long does it take to read aloud?
About five minutes at an unhurried pace, which is roughly one page every thirty seconds.
Where do the pictures come from?
They were painted for Pillowbook, one plate per page, in a single visual voice shared across all 12 tales. They are not stock illustrations.
Can I read the other tales here?
Yes. All 12 are on this site in full, free and without an account. The app is for reading them at bedtime — offline, no advertising, one page to a screen — and for the tale it writes about your own child.
