Hoky the Caring Wolf

To my children Helena and Álvaro, who told me this story night after night when they were small.

- César Blanco To Momo, my fairy godmother. Don’t ever change!

- Blanca Bk

Hoky the Caring Wolf Text © 2012 César Blanco Illustrations © 2012 Blanca Bk This edition © 2012 Cuento de Luz SL Calle Claveles 10 | Urb Monteclaro | Pozuelo de Alarcón | 28223 Madrid | Spain | www.cuentodeluz.com Original title in Spanish: Hoky el lobo solidario English translation by Jon Brokenbrow ISBN: 978-84-15241-92-8 Printed by Shanghai Chenxi Printing Co., Ltd. in PRC, April 2012, print number 123 All rights reserved.

Hoky the Caring Wolf

CĂŠsar Blanco

Blanca Bk

Once upon a time, there was a poor, lone wolf who lived in the mountains near a tiny village called Aldburg. Near the village, there was also a big lake full of fish and ducks, where the children would swim in the summer.

All of the people in the region lived happily in this beautiful place covered in green meadows and thick forests full of oaks and chestnuts, a place where the snow would cover everything in the winter, and the children would make snowmen and zoom downhill on their sleds.

Hoky, for that was his name, was the only survivor of the last wolf pack that lived in the region. In winter, when the mountains were covered with snow and they had nothing to eat, the wolves would come down to the village at night and creep into the farms, stealing chickens, rabbits and sheep.

The people of Aldburg, furious at losing so many of their animals to the wolves, decided to organize a hunt to get rid of them.

At dawn, all of the men met up in the village square, armed with sticks and shotguns and with their dogs at their sides.

They headed off into the mountains with hopes that they would soon find the pawprints that the wolves left in the snow. With the help of their dogs, they found them and captured all of the wolves...all of them except for Hoky, who saved himself by hiding in a cave.

Jacob was a carefree young shepherd who looked after a flock of sheep that grazed in the area. Jacob loved animals, and he knew all of the birds’ nests in the trees, all of the rabbit warrens, and even where the wolves had their caves.

He knew that the men from the village had killed off all of the wolves but one, as he had somtimes spotted the sad, lonely figure of Hoky.

Hidden pages

Aldburg is a mountain village that fought against its ancient enemies: Wolves. Hoky, the only survivor of the last wolf pack, gradually becomes friends with a young shepherd named Jacob.

Hoky the Caring Wolf is a tale of respect, love and companionship between humankind and the environment.

This story speaks of values such as cooperation, friendship, and a love of animals and nature that once again reminds us that we can all live together in harmony.