by Jenny Wagner and illustrated by Robert Roennfeldt (Red Fox Sydney 1995)

contact information:

Red Fox/Mark Macleod Books/Random House Australia, 20 Alfred St, Milsons Point NSW 2061

peace with ourselves-peace with each other

This delightful story for all ages to enjoy and share together contains all the peace-building elements and particularly challenges our beliefs and fears in relation to werewolves and anything else we do not understand:

• happy endings

• everyone winning

• nonviolent resolution

• imaginative and creative

• challenges existing stereotyping

• faith and hope

•     peace with the environment

• finding personal peace

•     …..an element that supports the idea that peace is possible

Feolf knew werewolves were frightening and scary animals for humans to see so he carefully concealed his wolf like ways. Just because he was a werewolf didn't mean he intended to deliberately frighten people. He loved Fioran, a beautiful princess, but he knew he would have to tell her the truth.

....but as tales such as these unfold the villain wanted to stop the beautiful princess from marrying her beloved prince, so he managed to prevent Feolf returning into his human form each morning.

Despite the sad turn of events the story did end happily.

Love saved the day, as did kindness and compassion.

The happy ending in this story allowed for truth to prevail.

Feolf married his princess.

But on some bright moonlit nights he returned to his forest.

Fioran, though, went with him.

Feolf, as Gandhi would have done, peacefully responded when he was captured.

Love and courage triumph.

Characters challenge traditional stereotyping.

There is no mention of revenge.

Critical questions to explore with children

• What was different Feolf?
• How did he feel about his situation?
• Why was he scared of telling his beloved Fioran the truth?
• What did the magician want to have happen?
• What did the king decide to do when Feolf was captured?
• Does the story have a happy win-win ending?

Creative questions to explore with children

• Would you have been afraid of Feolf when he was a wolf?
• Why do you think he was different to other werewolves?
• What would you have done to the magician if you had known how mean he had been to Feolf?
• Do you think Feolf preferred being a wolf or a human?
• Do you think the princess would have become a werewolf if she had the choice?
• How else could the story have ended with win-win?

In Robyn Ewing's "Beyond the Script: Drama in the Classroom" pp 33-36 she presents drama based that begin with a literature focus. She uses the Werewolf Knight story as the basis of her activities.

© Teaching and Learning for Peace Foundation February 2005

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