To the Top of the World: Adventures With Arctic Wolves - Hardcover

Brandenburg, Jim; Guernsey, Joann Bren

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802782191 ISBN 13: 9780802782199

Publisher: Walker & Co, 1993

Synopsis

A wildlife photographer records in text and photographs two visits to Ellesmere Island, Northwest Territories, where he filmed a pack of Arctic wolves over several months

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Reviews

Grade 3-6-A brief text and incredible full-color photographs tell the story of Brandenburg's Arctic summer excursion, during which he took pictures of a pack of wolves who seemed to accept his presence and allow him to approach them closely. On the day of his departure, the entire pack appeared at the airstrip to witness his leaving, as if to say good-bye. His artfully composed, crisp pictures capture the five-week old puppies' initial explorations outside their den, and their escapades with their baby-sitter, Scruffy, as well as howling practice. He offers intriguing examples of how the pecking order operates; in one dramatic episode, the wolves bring down a musk-ox. Through a series of well-chosen vignettes, the author shares plenty of information about the life cycle of animals, although this is not his main purpose. He clearly wants to communicate his awe for these wild creatures, and hopes to dispel any negative stereotypes that exist in readers' minds. His enthusiasm is evident in every well-chosen word. Laurence Pringle's Wolfman (Scribners, 1983; o.p.) concentrates on the work of one scientist in Minnesota; Scott Barry's The Kingdom of Wolves (Putnam, 1979; o.p.) is a more detailed exploration of the animals' habits. Both are accompanied by black-and-white photographs. Wolves (HarperCollins, 1993) by Seymour Simon offers the basic overview report writers require but To the Top of the World is clearly the most captivating.
Ellen Fader, Oregon State Library, Salem
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Wildlife photographer Brandenburg's account of a summer he spent near the Arctic Circle with a pack of white wolves is spirited by wildness, discovery and danger, yet also gentled by awe, mutual respect and profound emotion. "Thrilled" at the prospect of knowing wolves "that hadn't learned to fear humans," Brandenburg slips into their world without interrupting it and captures their behaviors, personalities and intelligence in word pictures nearly as descriptive and articulate as his photography. On the musicality of howling: "Every wolf avoided hitting the same note . . . . When this happened by accident, one of the voices would frantically shuffle about until discord could be achieved once again." Although wary of anthropomorphism, Brandenburg writes that "animals undoubtedly have more feelings than we give them credit for." This subtle, underlying persuasion, while never overwrought, gives the book a magnetic appeal. Ages 8-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Beautiful, almost unbelievable color photos of an Arctic wolf pack by a man who, like Farley Mowat in Never Cry Wolf (1963), describes the months he spent in the wild with them-- fubsy cubs, an angular, unkempt teenager he called Scruffy, no- nonsense leaders (Brandenburg named the alpha male Buster, after his father). Splendid photos depict cubs playing and learning to howl and the best hunter catching a hare; in one exciting sequence, the pack circles musk oxen protecting their calves, finally isolating and killing one. In the end, the photographer became almost an honorary pack member, though far down in the pecking order. Altogether, a fascinating firsthand account, with some interesting observations about not anthropomorphizing wolves; the author also wonders whether the wolves ``attributed wolflike feelings to my odd human behaviors.'' (Nonfiction. 8+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 5-7. A truly compelling chronicle of a wildlife photographer's experience living close to an Arctic wolf pack. Author-photographer Brandenburg, known for his work for National Geographic as well as other magazines, and twice named magazine photographer of the year by the National Press Photographer's Association, feels "adopted" by the pack living on remote Ellesmere Island, where the wolves have probably not had previous contact with humans and, therefore, are not afraid of them. Brandenburg comes to know the pack members and their special characteristics as well as the necessary hierarchy that defines each member's place in the pack. Intimate photos of pups playing, adults engorging themselves on a fresh kill, and the pack having a howling songfest are just a few of the moments captured in astonishing color photographs. Brandenburg's respect and awe are apparent in every paragraph of text, and his gentle reminders of our misplaced fear of wolves are well taken. This suberb photo-essay will make it difficult to think of wolves in the same way again. Denia Hester

Edition details

• Publisher: Walker & Co
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802782191
• ISBN 13: 9780802782199
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 44