Am I the big bad wolf...

Scarlett's favourite story at the moment is The Three Little pigs as they have been reading it at school. 

Scarlett tells me her version at night before she goes to sleep, which is a bit mashed but I get the gist and in the end, the wolf runs off after getting his bum burnt. 

 

At the library I found an Usborne first reading book of The Three Little Pigs, excellent, I thought, bedtime reading sorted. 

It was all going swimmingly until the end...

...

Scarlett: 'Is the wolf dead?' 

Me: (panicked face) 'Umm, no he jumped out and ran off.' 

Is it just me that thinks this is a bit much? I don't want to have to explain that he is dead because that opens up a whole box of questions that she is too young to comprehend (she is 5). 

There seem to be lots of variations of this book but I don't remember the wolf dying  in the version I read as a child. I must have read a 'nicer' version of the story but it got me thinking...am I actually the big bad wolf for shielding my child from the truth? 

More than ever we are bombarded with the horrors of the world. News is instant thanks to social media and the internet, children only have to tap a screen and a whole world of information is at their fingertips, so why did I lie about the ending of a story book? 

I wouldn't say I wrap my child up in cotton wool, but should we be teaching our children to understand that not very nice things happen in the world from a young age and not protect them from the big bad wolf, or should we let them be ignorant and carry on chasing each other in the playground blissfully until high school when real life suddenly kicks in? 

Back in the day these stories/fables were written to teach children about bad things, but are we in an age now where we are protecting them from children's stories and harming them in later life? 

What ending should be big bad wolf have? Should I man up and tell her he dies because he is bad? Should I just buy a 'nicer' version of the book and cut out the worry? What age should we teach our children to take notice of the world around them and the horrible parts of it?

Questions, questions, questions and only one answer...I've decided that I'm going to the bookshop tomorrow to hunt for another version, so judge away...

Signed:

The Big Bad Wolf. 

P.s. Tomorrow's discussion will be about the book 'Little Red Riding Hood' I have a feeling it has a familiar ending...