The Wolves Are Back [Hardcover]

Jean Craighead George (Author), Wendell Minor (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Two renowned children?s book creators teamed up to make this stirring picture book that tells the story of how, over a century, wolves were persecuted in the United States and nearly became extinct. Gradually reintroduced, they are thriving again in the West, much to the benefit of the ecosystem. This book will teach a new generation to appreciate the grace, dignity, and value of wolves as it promotes awareness of the environment?s delicate balance. Paired with gorgeous paintings by landscape artist Wendell Minor, Jean Craighead George?s engaging text will inspire people of all ages to care about the protection of endangered species.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1–4—"The wolves are back!" So begins this poignant and thought-provoking tale tracing the interconnectedness of nature and the far-reaching effects that occur when one aspect of a particular ecosystem is disrupted, in this case, the wolf population. By 1926, there were no more wolves in the 48 states—"rangers, hunters, and ranchers were told to shoot every wolf they saw. They did."—and the ecological balance was disrupted. Wolves were re-introduced to Yellowstone National Park in 1995, and as their numbers grew, balance returned. Moving deftly between the past and present, and set against the backdrop of Wendell Minor's wonderful panoramic paintings, Jean Craighead George's text (Dutton, 2008) beautifully demonstrates the effects of the presence and absence of wolves on the delicate ecosystem. "The vast elk herd had eaten the grasses the little bird needed for food and nesting material. When the wolves returned, they frightened the elk into the mountains. The grasses grew tall. The sparrows raised babies and sang. The wolves were back." Minor's engaging and lively reading is accompanied by excellent sound effects, including fluttering bird wings, songbirds, trampling bison, croaking frogs, and the stirring and plaintive howling of wolves. An excellent purchase for schools and libraries for units on wildlife protection and ecology—Mary N. Oluonye, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* In 1995, wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone Park—first time they had been part of the park’s ecosystem for many years. Although George follows one wolf’s growth from pup to adult, the emphasis here is not as much on the wolves and their habits, but on how their presence has changed the ecosystem and returned its natural balance. In just one example, the wolves drove the elk herds to seek refuge higher in the hills, causing the valley grasses to grow taller, allowing for the return of the Vesper sparrow, which uses the grasses for food and nests. George writes about each of the changes caused by the wolves’ return in simple, rhythmic, informative prose. Adding to the book’s appeal are Minor’s finely detailed illustrations, featuring spectacularly rendered animals in the foreground of the bold, western landscapes. Together the words and pictures make for a highly effective and enjoyable explanation of how the presence of one animal can profoundly affect an ecosystem. Match this with Dorothy Hinshaw Patent’s When the Wolves Returned (2008). Grades 3-5. --Todd Morning

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile; 1ST edition (April 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525479473
• ISBN-13: 978-0525479475
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 11.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #797,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jean Craighead George was born in a family of naturalists. Her father, mother, brothers, aunts and uncles were students of nature. On weekends they camped in the woods near their Washington, D.C. home, climbed trees to study owls, gathered edible plants and made fish hooks from twigs. Her first pet was a turkey vulture. In third grade she began writing and hasn't stopped yet. She has written over 100 books.Her book, Julie of the Wolves won the prestigious Newbery Medal, the American Library Association's award for the most distinguished contribution to literature for children, l973. My Side of the Mountain, the story of a boy and a falcon surviving on a mountain together, was a 1960 Newbery Honor Book. She has also received 20 other awards.She attended Penn State University graduating with a degree in Science and Literature. In the 1940s she was a reporter for The Washington Post and a member of the White House Press Corps. After her children were born she returned to her love of nature and brought owls, robins, mink, sea gulls, tarantulas - 173 wild animals into their home and backyard. These became characters in her books and, although always free to go, they would stay with the family until the sun changed their behavior and they migrated or went off to seek partners of their own kind.When her children, Twig, Craig and Luke, were old enough to carry their own backpacks, they all went to the animals. They climbed mountains, canoed rivers, hiked deserts. Her children learned about nature and Jean came home and to write books. Craig and Luke are now environmental scientists and Twig writes children's books, too.One summer Jean learned that the wolves were friendly, lived in a well-run society and communicated with each other in wolf talk -- sound, sight, posture, scent and coloration. Excited to learn more, she took Luke and went to the Naval Arctic Research Laboratory in Barrow, Alaska, where scientists were studying this remarkable animal. She even talked to the wolves in their own language. With that Julie of the Wolves was born. A little girl walking on the vast lonesome tundra outside Barrow, and a magnificent alpha male wolf, leader of a pack in Denali National Park were the inspiration for the characters in the book. Years later, after many requests from her readers, she wrote the sequels, Julie and Julie's Wolf Pack.She is still traveling and coming home to write. In the last decade she has added two beautiful new dimensions to her words beautiful full-color picture book art by Wendell Minor and others and - music. Jean is collaborating with award-winning composer, Chris Kubie to bring the sounds of nature to her words.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richie's Picks: THE WOLVES ARE BACK, June 3, 2008

By 

Richie Partington "Richie's Picks" (Sebastopol, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Wolves Are Back (Hardcover)

"The pup watched his father eat. Then he, too, tore off a bite. Two ravens stuffed themselves. A golden eagle carried off food for her eaglets. A grizzly bear sat nearby waiting for the wolves to leave so she could eat in peace. Three magpies snatched quick bites. Mice chewed on calcium-filled antlers. Two sexton beetles buried a piece of meat to eat later. The valley was sharing food again.
"The wolves were back."

I expect that most people -- if told that I spent years in Boy Scouts -- would not be surprised to learn that one of the first merit badges I earned was my Reading merit badge. So it is that I vividly recall reading (and discussing) Jean Craighead George's MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, which had garnered a Newbery Honor back in the days when I was first learning to read. And so it was that I was so excited years ago when upon entering the exhibition hall during the very first morning of my very first American Library Association convention that I encountered Jean Craighead George and Wendell Minor together for a book signing. (That appearance had been for another great book about wolves.)

"Where had they been?
"Shot. Every one.
"Many years ago the directors of the national parks decided that only the gentle animals should grace the beautiful wilderness. Rangers, hunters, and ranchers were told to shoot every wolf they saw. They did. By 1926, there were no more wolves in the forty-eight states. No voices howled. The thrilling chorus of the wilderness was silenced.
"The wolves were gone."

Jean Craighead George was a young girl learning to read as the last of the wolves were shot. She grew up to write about them in her Newbery Medal-winning JULIE OF THE WOLVES and the sequels JULIE and JULIE'S WOLF PACK, all three of which I thoroughly enjoyed reading during my tenure at the bookstore.

THE WOLVES ARE BACK details how ten adult wolves imported from Canada into Yellowstone National Park in 1995 have quickly multiplied into a series of wolf packs and have led in turn to the reestablishment of plant and animal species not seen in Yellowstone in many decades. The wolves drove the bison from the river so that the aspens grew, halting erosion and attracting beavers whose dams formed ponds that attracted waterbirds, fish, and frogs. The wolves thinned out the coyotes, permitting growth of the ground squirrel population which attracted badgers. The wolves also scared the mountain sheep up into the rocky cliffs, leading to the growth of wildflowers in the Valley:

"Flowers filled the valley. Bees and butterflies that fed on the flowers returned. Warblers sang. Hummingbirds brightened the valley. Like pieces in a kaleidoscope, the broken parts of the wilderness were tumbling into place.
"The wolves were back."

I love how what I learned about ecosystems -- going all the way back to my Boy Scout days -- really works! You fix the broken piece in the system and it all begins to function again. And I love the joyousness of this book. Wendell Minor's paintings alternate between portraits of the larger creatures and lush, expansive two-page spreads of the Yellowstone landscape. You repeatedly spy the wolf cub somewhere in each illustration: watching, scampering, howling, sniffing, listening. There is no doubt that Wendell's touch of magic will cause some readers to immediately begin dreaming of visiting Yellowstone and/or dream of having the wolves back in their own neck of the woods.

A significant book for teaching ecosystems, THE WOLVES ARE BACK will also go far in undoing the bad reputation that wolves have had, going all the way back to Aesop.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars for a better world!, May 22, 2010

By 

Judy K. Polhemus "Book Collector" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Wolves Are Back (Hardcover)

I've been in love with wolves for as long as I can remember, perhaps from childhood when I read Jack London. When I read a recent review of "Never Cry Wolf," by an Amazon friend, I had to respond with this newly aquired book in my library, "The Wolves Are Back," by another long-time wolf-lover, Jean Craighead George and illustrator, Wendell Minor. As a lovely touch, Minor declared his dedication to "All the people who made it possible for the wolves to return to Yellowtone."

On each page of script, the final sentence is: "The wolves are back!" On that first page the reader learns that the wolf pack has killed an elk. On the second page we learn that others also eat from that kill: ravens, a golden eagle, a grizzly bear, magpies, mice,and sexton beetles. "The valley was sharing food again. The wolves were back."

On the third page of script is the horrid back story. By 1926 there were no more wolves in the forty-eight states. Directors of the national parks had given the go-ahead for hunters and ranchers to kill every single wolf they saw. Reader, did you know that? (I'm assuming this is true.) Only gentle animals were allowed to roam in national parks: deer, elk, antelope.

By request from park visitors who wanted to hear the wolves howl, ten adult wolves were returned to Yellowstone in 1995. With them they caused the return of the Vesper sparrow. How? The elk herds had eaten all the grasses the bird needed for food and nesting. The wolves frightened the elk into the mountains, the grasses grew back, and the birds returned.

A similar occurrence with bison and flycatchers. When erosion stopped because grasses grew back, the beaver found willows to use to create dams and ponds and waterbirds and fish and frogs and dragonflies. The wolves thinned out the coyotes (do wolves eat coyotes?!), squirrels returned, badgers returned.

With grasses and ponds came flowers and bees and butterflies, hummingbirds.

"The wilderness is in balance again." Please ask why. Why? "The wolves are back."

If all this seems simplistic, please remember this is a children's story with information made approachable for children. Pleasing story and breathtaking artwork combined, children will love this book. I know because the classes I read to absolutely loved it, proving that romance with wolves extends beyond age barriers!

The illustrations are just as heart-inspiring and poetic as the script. I wish I could tell you what artistic technique Minor used, but I don't know what he used or how. Close examination shows individual hair strokes on the wolves and all the other animals. The variety of greens on the rolling hills and fields is simply breathtaking. Amazing!

Don't miss this beautiful book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get this book!, August 29, 2009

By 

Church Music Lover (Omaha, NE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wolves Are Back (Hardcover)

After returning home from a road trip through Yellowstone we picked up a few books from the library. This was one of them. We were amazed when the story within these pages recorded a sighting of wolves in the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park just like our own! A great nature story and the illustrations are luminous, lifelike, and uplifting. A fantastic book to give as a gift.