The Land of Gray Wolf - Hardcover

Locker, Thomas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0803709366 ISBN 13: 9780803709362

Publisher: Dial, 1991

Synopsis

Running Deer and his fellow tribesmen take special care of their land until they lose it to invading white settlers

About this title

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.

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.

Edition details

• Publisher: Dial
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0803709366
• ISBN 13: 9780803709362
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32