The Land of Gray Wolf [Hardcover]

Thomas Locker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 1991 | Age Level: 7 and up

Running Deer and his fellow tribesmen take special care of their land until they lose it to invading white settlers, who wear it out and leave it to recover on its own.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

What begins as a story of Native American life opens with Running Deer lying awake, listening to a wolf howl. His tribe lives and hunts in the forests. As Running Deer grows up, white-Indian relations become the focus: settlers intrude, drive the Indians onto reservations and burn the forests for farmland. Running Deer can no longer hear the call of the wolf. The story jumps forward to end on a hopeful note: with farmland reverting to forest, the wolf, too, may come back. In his well-intentioned attempts to touch all the bases, Locker's ecological tale becomes unwieldy. Admirers of his landscapes ( Sailing with the Wind ; Where the River Begins ) will find many familiar images, but also several stiffly handled human figures--and an anatomically inaccurate raccoon. Text and art unfortunately do not reach Locker's usual standards. Ages 6-up.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-5-- Locker's large-scale landscape paintings are well suited as background to a story of a young American continent inhabited by Indians and covered with splendid forests. Gray Wolf, chief of a small, unnamed tribe, steadfastly refuses to trade with the "Light Eyes," for he foresees that their methods of clearing land for farming will destroy the forests. Time brings war between his people and the settlers, Gray Wolf is killed, and his son Running Deer and the remnants of the tribe are forced onto a reservation. Eventually the descendants of Running Deer's people see the abandonment of the farms as the soil is used up. Beaver and raccoons, in the end, return to the old Indian hunting grounds. The Land of Gray Wolf carries the theme of living in harmony with nature and the environment, as well as a bit of the sad history of Native Americans. However, the plot lacks both drama and character development. It also lacks specificity as to the location of the land that has returned to its natural state. Locker's art is, as in his other books, his most effective mode of storytelling. His paintings of Indian life and easel-type landscapes of an America untouched by civilization may make the book worth the purchase. --Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dial; 1st edition (May 6, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803709366
• ISBN-13: 978-0803709362
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #563,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book!, December 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Land of Gray Wolf (Picture Puffins) (Mass Market Paperback)

I found it really surprising and intruging. The story has so many things that strike me as true. I found the story really enriching and I definitely will share it with students during a Native American unit.