Wolves

This is a wonderful book written by the renowned naturalist R.D.Lawrence that aims to introduce school children to the world of the wolf. Lawrence is one of the foremost experts on wildlife, and has written many books for adults, but this book is aimed at a much younger audience. Children from nine years and onwards will thoroughly enjoy this colorful book that is filled with amazing photos and an interesting narrative that takes the young reader deep into the lair of the wolf. Lawrence presents his experience of wolves in the wild as well as other interesting facts such as the historical distribution of the wolves over the centuries and how wolves differ from other canine species. This is a well written book that will draw the child into the strange and wonderful world of the wolf. However this book is more suitable for the older reader; younger readers would probably enjoy looking at the many photos and drawings but the narrative is aimed at a child with better than average reading skills. Several younger children that I know of who have been introduced to this book as a learning aid were keener on the colorful drawings/sketches than the photos (though they did like them) and they wanted a more interactive book. They especially liked it when Lawrence "asked" them questions such as "Is it a wolf or coyote?" and then described the difference briefly whilst showing a sketch of a wolf and a coyote. It would be great if another book about wolves could be published to meet the needs of younger readers (age group 4 to 8 years) because there obviously is a niche that could be filled. All the same this is an excellent learning aid for the older child, as well as being a beautiful book that charts the rise, fall and rise again of the supposed big "bad" wolf.

I recently taught a unit to a second grade class on Wolves. This book was very resourceful to me and enjoyable to the children. The pictures are breathtaking and it is filled with a variety of wolf information. Although, I feel that the reading level is slighlty above ages 4-8. I would suggest, for independant reading, ages 8-10 perhaps.