30 January 2008 THE WOLVES ARE BACK by Jean Craighead George, illustrated by Wendell Minor, Dutton, April 2008, 32p. ISBN: 0-525-47947-3

"And as I grew I soon found the wolfpack grow on me

Laser bright feel the lunar light comin' down on me"

-- Paul Kantner, "When I was a Boy I Watched the Wolves"

"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.

Richie Partington, MLIS

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