Small Wolf (I Can Read Book 3) [Paperback]

Nathaniel Benchley (Author), Joan Sandin (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 22, 1994 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: I Can Read Book 3

When Small Wolf encounters settlers on the Island of Hills, now known as Manhattan, he learns that their ideas about owning land are much different from his. As timely as when it was first published in 1972, this poignant story about the impact of European settlers on Native American people is even more dramatic in this new full color edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Nathaniel Benchley was the author of several different types of books, as well as plays, movies and magazine articles.

He attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard College, majoring in English. Shortly after graduation, he married Marjorie Bradford, and they settled down in New York City, where he worked for several newspapers and magazines. In 1941, before the attack on Pearl Harbor, he joined the U. S. Navy and was later trained to command small PT attack boats. He served in the Navy in the North and South Atlantic theaters and was on his way to the Pacific campaign when the war ended in 1945. He returned to New York and joined his wife and five year-old son, Peter. The next year, they had another son, Nathaniel Robert.

Nathaniel Benchley worked as a freelance writer –and painter- for the next 36 years. He wrote novels, plays, short stories, reviews, movie scripts and a very popular biography of the actor Humphrey Bogart. Much of his material was drawn from his life in New York and Nantucket, MA, where the family had a summer home. He found the small town life in Nantucket was rich in characters and material for adventures. He wrote a book titled The Off-Islanders, which was later made into a successful movie called "The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!" It was the story of a Russian submarine run aground on a small New England island. Several of his other books were also made into movies.

His sideline as a painter of landscapes led to his participation in many gallery showings.

Mr. Benchley used his fascination with history to create a series of books for beginning and teen readers. His particular interest was in taking a moment in history and examining it through the eyes of a young boy. He told stories about the Vikings coming to what would later be called "America;" Native American Indians dealing with the new settlers in their land ("Small Wolf"); young boys in Colonial America ("Sam the Minuteman" and "George the Drummer Boy") and the movement west; and a young boy who joins the Navy during World War II.

He also wrote a series of books for very beginning readers, many of which were about animals and their special bonds with humans ("Red Fox and His Canoe," "Oscar Otter").

He was always proudest of the letters he got from young readers who had identified with one of his characters and wanted to ask questions raised by their reading. He personally answered every letter he got from his readers.

In 1974, his son, Peter, published his first novel, Jaws, based on his experiences fishing off Nantucket in his youth (and a healthy imagination).

For the last many years of his life, Nathaniel Benchley lived in Nantucket with his wife.

Nathaniel Benchley lived by the motto: "A craftsman is one who does what he is given to do better than others feel is necessary." He died in Boston, MA, in 1981.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (April 22, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064441806
• ISBN-13: 978-0064441803
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #406,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #98 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Multicultural Stories > Native North & South Americans

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye opening, September 18, 2008

By 

Kamio Rose "Kamio Rose" (Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Small Wolf (I Can Read Book 3) (Paperback)

This really opened my daughters eyes to how the Native Americans were treated as the settlers moved in. She wants me to read it to her over and over and is always asking me more questions to learn more.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for kids, October 25, 2007

By 

BookWormyWoman "BookWormyWoman" (Mountain View, NC USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Small Wolf (I Can Read Book 3) (Paperback)

My 5 year old son can't get enough of this book, that tells it like it is when it came to the Natives in NY. It is cute, nice pictures, yet it is not PC, it tells the truth!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Be Warned..., September 24, 2010

By 

sunflowers (AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Small Wolf (I Can Read Book 3) (Paperback)

This book is very one-sided and although it may be factual for ONE tribe in ONE region of the country, it sent the wrong message for my child. The settler is described as looking like "the Devil" twice in the book. Never do the Native American characters do anything wrong, but the settlers were very trigger happy and shooting at the Natives preemptively when the N.A's only wanted to "talk". The book never reconciles the two parties and leaves the reader to believe that white men are the devil and that N.A's are just peace-loving passivists. If that fits your world-view, here's a piece of propaganda to feed your kids...