The Dog Taught Not to Whimper: discussion sheet

Part Two: The Muddles · about 4 minutes to read aloud · Theme: enforced silence

A man trains his dog never to whimper. A girl watches how the dog walks instead of listening for a cry, and at last the grown-ups look too.

Choose a question to talk over, or try the activity with words and pictures.

Start here

What does the miller’s daughter notice about the Dog that the trainer has stopped seeing?

Go further

The trainer says sorry, and the adults still do not give the Dog back. Was that fair to him? What would have to be true before you let him near the Dog again?

Make something

Make a wordless three-panel comic of the Dog in the miller’s kitchen. Show it turning away, being given space, and choosing to come closer.

Read The Dog Taught Not to Whimper online: youngmachines.org/read/fables/the-dog-taught-not-to-whimper/