Customer Reviews

Scruffy: A Wolf Finds His Place in the Pack

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4 star:		(1)
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Jim Brandenburg is one of my favorite wolf photographers & authors, and I absolutely love every book of his that I've read. I wasn't paying quite close enough attention to this book when I bought it; I didn't realize it was a children's book! Still, as disappointed as I initially was, as I flipped through it, I realized what a great vehicle this book is to educate children about wolves - he covers issues of dominant and submissive roles within the pack, the role of the omega wolf (Scruffy's place in the pack,) and the hardships of wolves' lives in the Arctic. The photos are excellent, and the text is clearly-written and in large print, very easy for new readers to work through....

My daughter brought this book home from the school library, and I fell in love with it. The depiction of the life of this wolf and his place of low-status in the pack was very moving and also very educational. The heirarchy of the dominant versus submissive wolves is a social structure that we can easily apply to our dog and her place in our family. Wonderful book! I was excited to find it on Amazon since I had forgotten the name of the book.

Scruffy is not a successful hunter, a careful groomer, or a powerful tell-em-what-to-do-er. He is a goofy Artic wolf, a misfit whose main talent seems to be getting beat up by the other wolves in his pack.

But then a litter of pups is born; and when their mother needs a pup-sitter to watch them while she hunts, Scruffy steps up for the job. He turns out to be an expert caregiver and tutor, and he knows it; he shows his confidence by standing tall and "superior" when he's alone with the cubs. Scruffy now has an important place in the pack.

SCRUFFY contains compelling and thought-provoking photos and text. It's written for children, but teens and adults will also find it a great vehicle for discussions about group hierarchies, body language, or the confidence that comes when you find something in which to excel.

This is the best non-fiction wolf book I have ever read. It gave me a three dimensional portrait of a member of a wolf pack. My heartbreak comes because the author didn't adopt him. What a wonderful book! I am so glad I picked this one up!