The fairy tale Wolf and 7 Kids is also unknown under other titles: "Wolf and 7 Young Goats", "Wolf and Seven Gooslings", etc., and can be found in different variations all over the world. It's especially varied and well-distributed in the Mediterranean area, which may be proof of its mythological origin.

We'll summarize this classic fairy tale with the help of Heinrich Leutemann's illustrations.

Mother goat has seven little kids. She has to leave their home. They will stay alone. She warns them not to open anybody but her. Somebody dangerous may come.

Mother tells her children about recognizing signs - she has a sweet voice and white feet.

The kids promise to be careful.

But they are not. They are just kids.

Soon, a wolf comes to the door and knocks.

Kids ask who is knocking.

Wolf tells it's their mommy. His rough voice betrayed him, and they didn't open.

The wolf is persistent. Now he knows that his voice shall be soft and gentle like the voice of the mother. So he goes to the shop and gets some chalk to soften his voice.

He knocks again.

This time, he passes the voice test, but kids see his black paws.

They don't open it because they know that their mother has white feet.

So the wolf goes to the baker. He demands to rub some dough on his feet.

Then, he goes to the miller. Some flour is sprinkled on his feet, and they start looking white.

The wolf goes to the house with seven little kids for the third time.

The kids are ready, but his voice is convincing. His paws look right. They open.

When they see the wolf, they try to hide. Each of them finds a different place, but the wolf finds them one by one.

He eats six kids because he didn't find the youngest, who is hidden in a grandfather's clock.

Eating six kids is not a small task. The wolf is bloated.

He needs some rest. He lies down under the tree near the house and falls asleep.

Soon after, the mother goat returns home.

The house is a mess, and the kids are missing. Then she finds the youngest kid, who tells her what has happened.

They go outside and see the wolf with an enormous belle sleeping under the tree. Something is moving in his belly. It looks like her children may still be alive.

Mother goat sends the kid home to get scissors, a needle, and thread. Then they open the wolf, rescue the kids, load the wolf's stomach with stones, and wait.

Sometime later, the wolf wakes up. He is very thirsty. He wants to drink and goes to the well. When he leans over, the stones pull him inside, and he drowns.

Mother goat and her seven little goslings enjoy the dance of happiness.

There are numerous known variations of the same fairy tale:

• the number of kids differ,
• instead of goats and the wolf, there are other animals (or people),
• the wolf visits different folk who help him to trick the kids,
• the youngest kid may be the only cautious from the very beginning but is outvoted on the wolf's third visit,
• kids hid in different places or don't hide at all (except for the youngest),
• instead of into the well, he falls into the river.

This fairy tale has obviously a lot of similarities with the even more famous Little Red Riding Hood:

• the big bad wolf in the role of antagonist,
• the absent mom who is unable to protect the kid(s),
• wolf as a trickster,
• eating so much that he has to sleep in an unsafe place,
• rescuing the victims from the wolf's stomach,
• filling the stomach with stones, which results in the cruel death of the antagonist.

We can also find parallels with Three Little Pigs. And so on and on.