Wolf Songs: The Classic Collection of Writing about Wolves

An anthology of writings, essays, and articles--by Ernest Thompson Seton, Farley Mowat, Barry Lopez, David Mech, and others--provides an evocative study of the wolf, its life cycle, behavior, relationship with humans, and threats to its survival.

YA-The authors demonstrate a deep affection for and a deft knowledge of wolves and of storytelling in this collection of 18 essays. It's a journey across plains, over mountains, into dens and other ranges where these animals roam. It is also a trip into the wolf's psyche. Anecdotes about hunting, playing, scent-marking, being loyal, and yes, howling, lead readers to images of them as creatures with thoughts as well as instincts, who have the right to a preserved place in a fragile ecosystem. Although some of the essays anthropomorphize the animals, this technique doesn't detract from the facts. YAs interested in zoology, psychology, and nature will find Wolf Songs undemanding recreational reading.
Karen Sokol, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Wolves, once the bad guys of nature--viewed as vicious, bloodthirsty, and cunning--are now undergoing a reassessment as part of the whole environmental movement. This predator is no longer a creature to be poisoned, strafed from airplanes, brutally trapped, and otherwise eradicated. Many of the writers included here did not wait for the recent surge of popularity to hold rational opinions about wolves. Some of these essays date from early in this century; others of recent vintage, echo the sense of loss and admiration inspired by the wolf's fate. Although the message is similar in each of these 18 nonfiction essays, each essay has its own, uniquely personal story. Championed at last, the big bad wolf is even the subject of the "Wolf Manifesto," which states, "The wolf has the right to exist in a wild state . . . in no way related to their known value to mankind." Denise Perry Donavin