The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf

A fable retold from Fifty Famous Fables by Lida B. McMurry

This fable comes from Fifty Famous Fables, a collection retold by American author Lida B. McMurry in the early twentieth century. The story of the shepherd boy and the wolf is one of Aesop's best-known fables, teaching that if you lie too often, people will stop believing you — even when you are telling the truth. This reader reflects its era; a few period terms have been modernised. The story is worth a child's time because it shows, through clear cause and effect, how trust is lost and why honesty matters.

Band

Purple · Pre-readers and first readers, about 4 to 5

Length

short · about 365 words in 4 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Fifty Famous Fables, Lida B. McMurry · Project Gutenberg

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (6 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.