Wolves Books

A very quick read. The style may be old-hat to some of you, but to this reader, it wasn't. Lots of suspense and easy-to-imagine scenery.

I found myself pausing often trying to figure out who was telling the truth and who was not. I had high hopes for the ending and was truly surprised by it.

I found this suspense novel entertaining and the graphic descriptions in keeping with the story line.

WOLF WARS is the short (170 pages), inside story by conservationist Hank Fischer on the restoration of wolves to Yellowstone National Park. Curiosity inspired me to buy the book after visiting the park last October, during which time I thought I saw a wolf crossing a snow-covered clearing way off in the distance. It was definitely a large canine. Well, perhaps it was only Sergeant Preston's dog King on a mission for the RCMP.

To make a short story even shorter, WOLF WARS briefly summarizes the successful effort to eradicate the wolf from the western US at the turn of the last century, then reviews the recent, also successful, federal effort to re-establish wolves in that same region. The best chapters are the first, which describes the live capture of wolves in Alberta, Canada, and the last, which describes their subsequent release into YNP in 1995. In between, Fischer recounts ad nauseam the 20-year battle fought in the US Congress and the courts to design, popularize, legitimize and implement the plan to bring the animals back in the face of rabid opposition from the region's cattle and sheep ranchers. This relatively lengthy section focusing chiefly on government infighting was truly eye-glazing stuff, and best left to bureaucrats-in-training.

Yes, reading this book did teach me something - always a good thing in itself. But, a simple 10-page pamphlet would have sufficed.

I am enthralled with wolves, so this, combined with the fact that the calendar was advertised as a 16 month calendar, was the reason I ordered it right away. I was a bit disappointed when I received it and found out it is not a True 16 month calendar. It has 12 full page months, and then one page with the last four months of year 2000 together in tiny print.

The pictures are nice (very crisp and clear) but there aren't many action shots of wolves in the wilderness. It is more like headshots and poses.

Overall it is nice, but I am in need of a true 16 month calendar sporting wolves and this one just doesn't cut it.

Nancy Gibson's slender volume on the most fascinating and misunderstood animal in North America is filled with wonderful full color photography. We see wolves of every color and shape in every conceivable form of terrain and weather. Wolves are the most photogenic animals in existence, and these pictures alone speak volumes about their power, intelligence, beauty, and complexity.

The book itself is slim on in-depth information about wolves. The print is large and the text is widely spaced over the pages: the focus here is really on the design and the photographs. Nancy Gibson only briefly covers the most interesting aspect of wolves -- their social structure and family life -- at the beginning of the book. Other chapters cover wolf legends, human attempts to kill off the species, and the fight to protect them, all painted in broad strokes and simple language. The most in-depth section of the book covers the different variety of wolves around the world.

People who only want a primer and the basics on wolves will enjoy this book, while younger readers (late elementary school) will find it just right for a report for a science class or just for reading for enjoyment. But for readers who are looking for an academic study with more fascinating information on these animals should buy L. David Mech's incredibly detailed and researched volume "The Wolf: The Ecology and Behavior of an Endangered Species."

Wolf lovers still may want this book for its photographic quality, since Mech's book only has black and white photos. It makes a nice coffee-table book for wilderness lovers also.

This book is somewhat technical and has many charts and graphs. It is quite detailed with scientific information about the lives of wolves in Alaska today and parts are very interesting reading, especially if you love wolves. There are not as many photos as I would have hoped.
Also be careful if you are buying hard cover used books, there was no dust cover on this one which was dissapointing even though this was in the seller's description.

Centuries ago, North America's bison were controlled by wolves. The near-extinction of the bison and the eradication of wolves in most of the Lower 48 states ended this predator-prey system. While the two species now coexist in Yellowstone, an abundance of preferred prey such as elk attenuate the workings of the original system.

However, the wolf-bison system still exists along the Alberta-Northwest Territories border, in Wood Buffalo National Park. If you're interested in that park, in bison, in wolves, or in any combination of those topics, you'll be interested in this book. It's an academic study with lots of data, tables, and figures - - written well enough, but hardly a stylistic masterpiece. So, if you're not pretty interested in those topics, there's not much here to recommend the book.

The authors' main goal is to explain the decline of the wood bison population from about 1970 to the present. Suspects include wolf and bear predation, hydrological changes from the upstream Bennett Dam, diseases such as brucellosis and tuberculosis, and a combination of other variables. Wolves, especially in interaction with hydrological changes, are the major culprits here according to our authors.

An interesting retelling of the classic Aesop's Fable, Ross gives us Willy, a spoiled child who preys on the genuine fears of his parents, grand parents and fellow villagers by crying wolf to get out of any task he finds boring or otherwise not to his liking...he cries WOLF, to get out of his bath...his violin lesson and so on. As per the original, he does so to great effect...but the wolf gets wind of this and comes to teach little Willy a lesson (and have him self a fine boy-sized snack as well). In a sudden twist at the end, the wolf consumes the entire village (outrageous) and then the spoiled Willy for desert. I found the ending to be much darker than the original but the light-hearted and nearly whimsical illustrations allow the ending to seem less horrible than it really is. I rather enjoyed the specter of the wolf running after little Willy knife and fork in hand, dressed formally in a tux (for he had fine manners, don't you know). Overall I give it four stars; it's a fun read though sensitive readers (parents and/or children) might not like the more gruesome ending Ross supplies in this version. We found the illustrations to be quite fun and the text to be a refreshing deviation from the standard. I'd certainly buy a copy for my home library because I think it's an fun variation on this theme. One final note...as with the grim ending, there is one illustration where you can "see" a bit of dangling penis along with his rather rosy cheeks in the bathroom scene which I thought was amusing but which some parents my object to. This book is probably best for slightly older children (5-8) who are already familiar with the original and who are beginning to explore variations of various children's fairytales, folklore, and fables.

This is definitely a little darker than the original - the wolf does not eat sheep, but people (I know that's unrealistic), and at the end of the story eat eats the entire village.

C'est la vie.

In this house, pretend cannibalism is all the rage. Like adult/child pairs everywhere we say things like "Oh, you're so cute I could eat you up!" and so on, and we talk about how when we eat chicken we're eating something that yes, used to be alive.

(We also recite the absurd little nursery rhyme "Baby and I got baked in a pie".)

We find the illustrations in this book hilarious, probably because they're so over the top, and done in a light-hearted fashion. (The less graphic illustrations of Heckedy Peg were done in a more serious fashion and we couldn't finish that book.)

Some people have commented about "OMG! This book shows a penis!"

After reading those reviews I took my book to check. They're right. In the scene where Willie cries wolf to avoid taking a bath, you do see him from behind and there is a little dangly bit there. You really have to look closely to see it.

This doesn't bother me. Half of all young children do have penises, and the rest of them, if they happen to have younger brothers, will likely see a penis in the exact same context before they turn ten. It's a non-sexual illustration.

If you're concerned about that sort of thing, please pre-read before you purchase. But I recommend this book heartily :)

I bought this book to help my daughter understand why it's important to tell the truth and not cry 'wolf'. It's not the same one Iremember as a child and it will be returned. Really a bad model for kids.

This book was purchased for my son who is five to teach him about lying and telling the truth. It was not the way I remembered the story told as a child, actually I found it pretty sick! The wolf eats people and flosses his teeth with the bones of the people he eats. The pictures are pretty graphic, I really am surprised they were able to publish this book for children. I would look for the orginal story of the "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" I would not buy this copy!

This book shows the boy naked from behind with a penis hanging between his legs. Why in the world should a 5 year old see that!

My mother-in-law bought this for our son (now 2) and I just pulled it out last week as he's into "paper" page books now (moving up from the board books). I was stunned to discover in the end that Goldilocks ends up in the pie in the end. I'm not into the Grimm type of story books...so this one will be leaving my son's library before he knows better and gets scared by it. It's the first book I've ever objected to for him. I would pass for any age child.

We borrowed this book from our local library. The colorful cover and illustrations on first glance enticed my 2 and 4 year olds. Upon reading the story at home, however, we found that this book was very violent - it highly suggests that Goldilocks is killed and baked in a pie and then served to the wolf's unwitting party guests. I, as an adult, found the story disturbing. If my children had fully understood the book's implications, they would have had nightmares.

Maybe if your children are older, you will find this book less objectionable. Even so, with all the violence in the real world, do we really need this kind of stuff in children's books - even as dark humor?

Mr. Wolf throws a birthday bash for Baby Bear and Goldilocks crashes the party as the world�s rudest guest. Poor ignorant Goldilocks is dealt a surprisingly macabre punishment for a children�s story.
This is a fractured fairy tale in the tradition of Grimm�s originals: a moral lesson is taught through violence. While older students will appreciate the sly humor, this is story that could scare the daylights out of some preschoolers. Primary colors and cuddly creatures suggest a toddler audience, while the plot and theme are more appropriate for early elementary school students. The tea party recipes are a charming addition, but too cutesy for the startling ending. Teachers may find the story useful for a unit on fractured fairy tales, but this one is so broken, best to proceed with caution.

As a fan of Fearnley's Mr. WOLF'S PANCAKES, I was curious to see what would be cooked up in this sequal. This time it's birthday cake! When Mr. Wolf and his Granny host a birthday party for Baby Bear, they plan for a perfect day. Then that rude and naughty Goldilocks shows up. Granny has obviously handled such beastly children before, so this visit is a piece of cake.

Fearnley fans won't be disappointed at the outcome!

Not much to say about it. Its well-written but uninteresting. The affair between the teacher and the main character seemed force and also uninteresting. Altogether not something to seek out. I agree with another reviewer that if you are interested in Anne Arensberg, try "Incubus", just as well-written but more interesting.

Although I do not consider this book a wasted read, it is not topping my list of favorites.

I found the storyline very difficult to follow, the characters were not at all engaging, and if the author used the word "Sapphic" one more time I was going to throw the book. However, the final chapter was a page-turner with a engaging plot, and a surprise ending. It also provided insight into the title of the work and salvaged the entire reading experience for me.

My advice would be to skim everything but the last chapter. Read that one with relish.

For anyone interested in a GOOD Ann Arensburg book, I suggest "Incubus", her best work by far.

I wouldn't normally have reviewed "Sister Wolf", if I hadn't seen the only other review, which, while probably fairly correct, was a bit more cynical and harsh than I thought was deserved of the book. It's true that the plot is strange, and the characters a little distant and difficult to become attached to. However, the book was well done; Ann Arensburg is quite a good writer, and her prose is simple but sufficient. In the end, "Sister Wolf" seems to be nothing but a story about the difficult love of two people, and the attachment of one woman to her wild animals. However, "Sister Wolf" is saddening but fairly enjoyable, and is a fine light read. It's not a bestsellar, and it's not high on my list, but it's certainly not a novel deserving of the trashcan, and tossing it there without giving it a chance would certainly be a mistake.

I bought "Sister Wolf" on the strength of the cover, blurb, and awards it received. I needed something to read on a six hour flight to Dublin.

The book was not engaging. I couldn't feel close to the characters, nor did I find their actions to be motivated by...anything.

This is a dreadful book, and I had to force myself to finish it.

Then, I did what I rarely do: I threw it into the trash.

Zoe Valdes draws you into a world of adventure and mysticism with this tale of two female pirates in the Caribbean. She nevertheless acknowledges the hardships of what it was to be a female in a world of men and violence, a world apart from the social standard and expectations of the period. Her style of writing draws you in and entraps you in this interesting story based on real people.

La autora trata de presentar una novela historiaca basada en la vida de dos mujeres piratas. Nadie creeria que con una idea tan buena se pudiera escribir una historia tan mala, pero asi es. Da verguenza ajena leer este libro. Esta llena de incongruencias, de principio a fin. Las pretendidas aventuras de las protagonistas estan llenas de dialogos insulsos y tontos, lo cual termina por volver la trama en algo aburrido, por no decir indignante.

I still don't understand how a book so full of inconsistencies and errors could be published (a piece of rock floating on the water?!! A Victorian piece of lingerie in the 1700's?!!). The characters are also like caricatures. The situations, ridiculous. Don't waste your time or your money.