The Wolf Mother by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson)

In the month of May, during the Lasa'yanja, the Budding Trees and Blooming Flowers Moon, plants are blooming and spring is beginning to take hold. During this time, many animals are giving birth. The Now Gibuu, the wolf mother has recently given birth to six new wolf pups. One of the wolf pups is black with a tiny white strip above her left eye.

By the time of the Lasa maa'y, the Gathering and Preparing Berries Moon, the wolf pups are now travelling with their family, hunting gax, the rabbit. The black pup aggressively pushes to the front of the other pups to get the meat she loves. 

After two years of growing, hunting and learning from her pack, it is time for the black wolf to leave and find her own group and become a Nox Gibuu or wolf mother.

During the time of Lasa gangwiikw, The Groundhog Hunting Moon, there is plenty of prey for the black wolf, especially the well fed groundhogs, as she seeks out a new home.

In November, during Lasa gwineekxw, the Getting-Used-To-Cold Moon, the black wolf approaches a group of wolves she has been following for some days. One of the wolves, a grey female is wary of the strange black wolf but eventually submits, rolling over on her back. The black wolf is now the leader of this group of wolves.

By January, Nox Gibuu is bonding with a strong male wolf with grey fur. Soon the wolf mother will be able to begin her new family.

The arrival of  spring, Nox Gibuu's third Lasa 'yanja is heralded by the birth of her first litter of five pups. There are now ten animals in the pack. Nox Gibuu has made a good start for the future of the wolves in her ecosystem.

Discussion

The Wolf Mother is part of the Mothers of Xsan series written by award-winning storyteller and artist Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson) from the Gitxsan Nation in the Northwest Interior of British Columbia. As Gyetxw mentions in his note "The Gitxsan" at the back of the book, the territory of the Gitxsan encompasses the headwaters of Xsan or its colonial name, the Skeena River.   The Gitxsan Nation is a strong matrilineal society, meaning that "all rights, priviliges, names and stories come from the mothers". There are four clan that make up the Gitxsan Nation, the Lax Seel (Frog), Lax Gibuu (Wolf), Lax Skiik (Eagle), and Gisghaast (Fireweed).  The Mothers of Xsan series include The Sockeye, The Wolf, The Grizzly and the Frog, fitting nicely with three of the Gitxsan clans. 

Like other books in the series, The Wolf Mother offers young readers the story of the life cycle of the animal in the title, in this case the grey wolf. The Wolf Mother blends biology and Indigenous knowledge and culture, showing how the natural world and the human world share similar practices. For example Gyetxw mentions how both wolf packs and the Gitxsan people share the responsibility of raising the young, teaching them the skills they need to know to survive.

Beyond the life cycle of the wolf, readers will also learn the importance of the wolf in the ecosystem in the Gitxsan Nation territory and Gyetxw also points out how the wolf should not be considered a feared predator but in reality are "...some of the most loving and caring beings."

Gyetxw also incorporates some of the Gitxsan language into his text such as gal ts'ap (village), gibuu (wolf).  The author also uses terms that are familiar to the Gitxsan to describe the world around them. The months of the year are defined by the names the Gitxsan have for each lunar cycle. For example, the moon in May is very appropriately called Budding Trees and Blooming Flowers Moon or Lasa 'yanja.  To make the text more understandable to younger readers, more difficult words and terms are highlighted in separate boxes where a definition is provided. 

Accompanying the descriptive text is the colourful artwork of Metis illustrator Natasha Donovan who incorporates many beautiful indigenous motifs into her work. This artwork really enhances the story being told. Overall, this graphic series is very well done, the artwork outstanding and the information presented in an appealing and engaging way.

The Mothers of Xsan series is highly recommended for students interested in wildlife.

Book Details:

The Wolf Mother by Hetxw'ms Geytxw (Brett D. Huson)
Winnipeg, Manitoba: Highwater Press      2021

Bringing Back the Wolves by Jude Isabella

Bringing Back The Wolves recounts the very successful re-introduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park in 1995. For the previous seventy years, wolves were absent from a large area of the American west. Beginning in the late 1800's the American government placed a bounty on wolves that led to their complete elimination from the West by 1926. While such a policy was a boon to ranchers, it had a major impact on the ecology of the area.

The story begins by describing what happened in Yellowstone as a result of what turned out to be an "unintended experiment": removing one important member of an ecosystem. For seventy years, wolves were gone, completely eliminated due to hunting. In an effort to tame the West, hunters were encouraged to shoot cougars, wolves and grizzly bears.  By 1926, no wolves remained in Yellowstone. Because wolves are a keystone species, their absence directly and indirectly impacted the Yellowstone ecosystem. Elk, coyotes, aspen trees, songbirds and even the soil and streams were affected.

These are all part of the Yellowstone food web, an intricate relationship between animals, plants, birds, water, and soil. The absence of an apex predator, the wolf, allowed elk to increase in population, which led to over-grazing of grass and trees. The result was a transformed landscape and more impacts throughout the food web. But in 1995, that was about to change.

When wolves were re-introduced into the park in late January of 1995, there was plenty of prey for wolves. For the first decade after the wolf reintroduction, elk herds were so large, each wolf killed about eighteen to twenty-two elk per year. As the elk population began to decline, changes began to happen in the Yellowstone ecosystem. The park vegetation began to re-establish itself , with more grasses, and full grown trees. The populations of other canids, coyotes and foxes in the park also changed. As the years went by and the wolf population grew, the ecosystem began to heal and researchers saw more and more changes, all of them bringing about a more balanced natural environment.

Discussion

Bringing Back The Wolves is both engaging and very informative. Isabella has covered all the bases in this detailed nonfiction picture book that explores the ways the re-introduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park healed local ecosystem. Bringing Back The Wolves explains the complex relationships between the many species of animals and plants in the Yellowstone ecosystem. Readers will learn how the absence of the wolf harmed these relationships and how their return brought each part of the ecosystem back into balance. 

For example, the return of the wolves resulted in more elk carcasses for grizzly bears, allowing them to better prepare for the winter. These carcasses also provided food for various types of decomposers such as insects, bacteria and molds, which break down the carcass enriching the soil. More insects mean more food for birds.  Fewer elk also allowed willow, cottonwood and aspen trees to grow back, providing homes for birds, beavers and other animals. Fewer elk  allowed berry bushes to mature and produce more fruit for insects, birds and black bears. The interconnectedness in the food web is well explained in easy to understand text. Each page features colourful illustrations rendered in Photoshop by artist Kim Smith.

Isabella avoids any discussion about the controversy of the wolf reintroduction into the park or the delisting of wolves as an endangered species. This book focuses entirely on the ecology of the wolves in relation to Yellowstone and what scientists have learned in the last twenty-five years.

As Isabella concludes, "Twenty-five years after their reintroduction, about 500 wolves roam the great Yesllowstone ecosystem, staking their claim in the food web. Wolves have helped to balance the ecosystem just by being themselves, apex predators. But perhaps even more important, studying the wolves has exposed just how complex and interconnected the ecosystem is, revealing surprising links no one could have imagined."

Bringing Back The Wolves is highly recommended for anyone interested in ecology, wolves and for unit studies in school. Isabella rounds out the information with a Glossary, a list of Resources and an Index.

Those interested in reading more about the wolves in Yellowstone National Park are directed to the US National Park Service website.

Book Details:

Bringing Back The Wolves: How a Predator Restored An Ecosystem by Jude Isabella
Toronto: Kids Can Press   2019
39 pp.

A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry

A Wolf Called Wander tells the story of a young wolf who undertakes an incredible journey of survival after his pack is destroyed. The story is based on the real life events surrounding a wild wolf known as OR-7 who was named Journey.

The story opens with the birth of a wolf pup named Swift into a large wolf pack. Swift named because he was the first to stand and walk, has a brother named Sharp who is bigger and a brother named Warm who is smaller,  as well as sisters named Pounce and Wag.  Although Swift is eager to go into the world outside the den, he is warned not to do so by Mother. Eventually at night, Mother orders the young wolf pups out of the den and into the world.

In the world Swift meets other members of the pack, Song the hunger, pup-watcher Growl and Father who gives him a lump of predigested meat. Swift learns this is elk meat, the "life of the pack".

During the summer, the pack hunts and Swift and his brothers and sisters enjoy the elk meat. Despite his best efforts, Swift can never quite get his larger brother Sharp to drop his tail to him. Swift eats more and runs faster but Sharp is stronger and larger. But Swift sits with Father watching him watch the mountainside that is their home. Swift learns not to hunt skunks, eat mushrooms or white berries nor badgers, wolverines or porcupines. He learns about the ravens and how they work with the wolves, about how men kill wolves and works on his hunting skills.

As summer turns to fall, Father notes there are many more wolves in their area. So he and Mother go off to mark out their territory to warn the stranger-wolves away. During an elk hunt, Father teaches Swift how to run the elk to uncover the weakest one but it is Sharp who helps make the kill and who feeds after Father and Mother. This leaves Swift only more determined to beat his bigger brother. During the winter Father chooses Swift to run the herd while Sharp helps him make the kill. 

No longer a yearling, Swift watches as the season changes and Mother has another batch of pups. On the first full moon of summer while the pups are feeding, an enemy pack of silver wolves attack Swift's smaller pack. While Mother escapes up the mountain with the pups, Father is surrounded by the other wolves and attacked. When Swift sees another wolf attempting to follow Mother up the mountain, he gets the wolf's attention by pretending to be a weaker wolf and then leads him on a chase. This wolf dies during the chase, but Swift determined to save his pack, leads several more on chases. However, Swift hears his father's death cry. Although he wants to howl to his pack to learn if any survived he can't because this might reveal them to the attacking pack. Later that night the pale wolves howl. Swift hears Sharp's low howl and knows that he is now their following wolf and that none of his pack remain. So Swift begins a journey that will take him hundreds of miles from his home territory and a new chance at life. Along the way there will be many lessons to learn, new animals to discover and many skills to develop.

Discussion

Remote camera photo of OR7 taken in 2014

A Wolf Called Wander is loosely based on the life of a gray wolf who was collared in Oregon. He was the seventh wolf collared and was named OR-7. OR-7 was born into the Imnaha Pack in Oregon in 2009. He was collared in February of 2011.  In September 2011 OR-7 left the Imnaha Pack, travelling four thousand miles through the state of Oregon and eventually crossing into California. He travelled through the Soda Mountain Wilderness, the Klamath Basin and Sky Lakes Wilderness. His presence in California made him the first wolf in that state since 1924. OR7 returned to Oregon, crossing back and forth between the state and California several times before finding a mate and establishing a new pack, called the Rogue pack based in the Rogue-Siskiyou National Forest in 2014. Since that time, OR7 has produced five sets of pups, helping to establish more wolves in Oregon.

Swift's story is told from his point of view, in a decidedly "wolf" voice. This makes the narrative that much more interesting and the lovely pencil illustrations by Monica Armino are a refreshing throwback to classic juvenile fiction novels from the 1950's and 1960's. They enhance Swift's story in a very real way.

Ultimately, Swift's story is one of brute survival, as he travels through new landscapes and must deal with a serious wound, lack of food, water and the loneliness of life without a pack. Early on the reader sees Swift's incredible will to survive after he is injured attempting to take down an elk. Unable to to walk and with vulture flying overhead, Swift determination to live is strong. "All creatures eat and all are eaten in the end, but I am not ready to be eaten, not today. I want my pack, my own pack. I want to run, to hunt, to live."

Parry incorporates many interesting facts about wolves into her story. For example, when Swift first leaves his decimated pack he has help from a raven. Ravens and wolves can have a symbiotic relationship, with the raven helping a wolf find food. But Swift, a young wolf without much experience doesn't understand why the raven has been following him. Father knew how to talk to the ravens, but he does not. However, when the raven picks up a bone and continues to drop it in front of Swift he comes to understand that the raven knows how to find food, but needs help from Swift. "Ravens do things for a reason. She is talking to me. She must know where to find meat. For all their savvy, ravens have the wrong beak for opening a hide. They need someone with teeth to get at the meat."

A Wolf Called Wander is an engaging novel that draws readers into the natural world, teaching them about wolves,  and helping them to understand the importance of an apex predator like the wolf in the forest ecosystem.  It also offers young readers the opportunity to consider the impact of man wolves over the last century. This well written novel will appeal to animal lovers of all ages. It's a book with a refreshingly different theme from the many the fantasy novels written for younger readers.

Parry has included a section titled, "The Real Wolf Behind The Story" which tells about OR7 and includes photographs and a map of OR7's journey through Oregon, into California and back into Oregon. There is also a section titled "About Wolves" which provides readers with information about some of their special characteristics as well as wolf tracks, wolf packs, wolf behaviour, the various habitats that Swift and his real-life counterpart,  OR7 encountered on their journeys. Parry has also listed Resources for Young Readers which offers documentaries, books and websites to check out, as well as some General Resources.

OR7 image credit: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife  https://www.flickr.com/photos/odfw/16674012963/in/album-72157623481759903/


Book Details:

A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry
New York: Greenwillow Books    2019
243 pp.

The Wolf by Steven Herrick

Ever since I can remember,

my dad has talked about the wolf.

From the age of five,

I'd sit beside him on the back step,

We'd look across the paddocks of sheep

into the forest shimmering in the afternoon heat,

watching,

the two of us sure the wolf would come

if we sat here long enough.

Sixteen-year-old Lucy Harding lives with her mom and dad and her twelve-year-old brother Peter on Battle Farm. Her father is physically and emotionally abusive to Lucy and her mother who spend most of their time avoiding him.  He loves to shoot his gun but he often misses the paper targets Peter draws for him. He did hit and kill their pig Winnie one time shooting while drunk. 

Fifteen-year-old Jake Jackson lives in an old timber house close to Wolli Creek with his mom and dad. His great-grandpa Ellis settled here with two dogs and some prize Merinos. He married Lizzy Peacher and they had a large family who have all worked on the farm. 

Jake helped his dad build a veranda around the century house when he was ten years old. Every morning he goes to the hen house to collect eggs and often in the afternoon he likes to cook with his mom. She taught him how to make bread, so three times a week they make bread in the Early Kooka to give it that smokey flavour.  Since he was five-years-old, Jake's father has told him about the wolf. His father was twenty-years-old when he saw the wolf at Wolli Creek while fishing for trout. The wolf drank from the creek, looked at him and then ran into the bushes. He tells Jake that wolves supposedly do not live in Australia.

Jake along with Lucy and Peter take the school bus together to Coomuya Central School on what is the last day of school before winter holidays. Peter, Lucy and Jake are all in the same class because the school only has seven teachers for Prep to Year Twelve. Lucy has been allowed to read a book about the Triobriands, islands in the Pacific. She finds their unusual culture funny because of what the women do to the men during the Yam Festival. As she leaves school for holidays, Lucy cannot wait to spend the next three weeks reading books by Wolli Creek where she won't hear her dad shouting at her mom or Peter whining or the complaints on talkback radio. On the bus ride home, Nathan Stokes bullies Peter for his inability to read and Lucy comes to her brother's defense by slapping him in the face. 

At Jake's family farm, they lose their second sheep in a week to what Jake's father believes is a wolf. Jake and his dad along with their two dogs, Patch and Spud head out in the pickup with it's spotlight to see if they can spot the wolf. Jake and his father debate about shooting the lone wolf. Jake's father only shoots snakes and foxes because snakes kill people and foxes kill sheep. They don't find anything that night. But one night Jake hears the long, lonely howl of the wolf on Beaumont Hill, searching for a mate. Jake hopes he can one day meet the wolf and befriend him.

Lucy remembers the story that her grandma told her years ago about how one of their dogs went wild. Her father was walking down the stairs and stepped on their dog Shadow's tail. The dog latched onto his leg and would not let go. Her dad beat the dog until he let go and then ran inside to get his gun. But Shadow ran off with her father in pursuit of the dog for hours. He never found him but was certain he could hear his howls. Lucy also hears the howls up on Beaumont Hill and believes that is Shadow. Her father tells her he intends on finding the feral dog and killing it.

One day, Lucy, Peter and Jake are together at the Wolli River. While Peter speaks badly of Jake's father but eventually leaves. Lucy startles Jake with the claim that she knows where Jake's "wolf" lives: "Near Balancing Rock on Sheldon Mountain". She doesn't have proof other than she knows, but Jake agrees to let Lucy take him to Balancing Rock the following day. In fact, Lucy doesn't know where the wolf is. She just wants to get away from her family farm and she plans to tell Jake once they reach Balancing Rock that she is not going back. 

They meet up in the morning and walk along Wolli Creek. Lucy has packed her school bag and as she has no intentions of returning home, she steals her father's beers and empties them into the creek. Soon they reach Sheldon Mountain just as the mist begins to roll in. While Jake wants to turn back, Lucy refuses. And then the unexpected happens: Jake slips on the wet rocks, falling down the cliff and severely injuring his ankle. Lucy finds a cave and she and Jake spend the night on Sheldon Mountain. Their time together changes everything for both Jake and Lucy and their families.

Discussion

The Wolf  tells the story of two teens, fifteen-year-old Jake Jackson and sixteen-year-old Lucy Harding who are neighbours on opposite sides of the Wolli River in Australia. They spend a night together in the bush, after an attempt to locate a "wolf" they believe lives nearby goes awry. The story is told in alternating points of view, with the occasional poem by Peter.The story is told in free verse with a group of poems each forming a chapter. 

The Jacksons and Hardings live on opposite sides of the Wolli River in Australia but their two families could  not be more different. The Harding farm is described as overgrown with weeds, their livestock running wild, fouling the creek and knocking down fences. Lucy's father drinks, and spends his time shooting at targets and small animals. Lucy hears the call of a kookaburra only to see her father shoot it. Lucy remembers, "I've never heard the valley so quiet."  She spends her time hiding from her abusive father on the shed roof until the sun slips behind Beaumont Hill. Her narrative reflects the kind of life and home Lucy is a part of, the tone angry and defiant, filled with swear words and crass phrases.She refers to the librarian Mrs. Bains as stupid and old. Lucy loves to read but since they are only allowed to take out three books over the winter holidays, she decides to steal a few.

Lucy is a tragic character because she is a victim of verbal and emotional abuse. In a poem titled Lucy: bad luck she explains that one day she was a normal child running about on their farm and then next she was to blame for the drought, the bushfire and the floods. Her father used his words to blame her:
"Every day he laid into me

with his words,

as though blaming someone else 

made it easier for him.

And what he said stung

like a nest of bull ants,

but I'll tell you want hurt more.

Every day while this was going on,

Mom did nothing to stop him.

She kept cooking,

mopping the floor,

hanging the washing."

Lucy wonders if her mother thinks the same as her father or if she's glad it's Lucy who is being abused and not Peter. To shield herself from her father's hate, she grew her hair long so she could hide her eyes. What Lucy doesn't realize is that women in an abusive relationship often do not leave and do not defend their children from abuse. It's a puzzling paradox to people on the outside but there are many reasons why women may feel compelled to stay in an abusive relationship. In Lucy's mother's situation, her husband drinks, and his behaviour is often threatening.  As a child, Lucy doesn't understand that her mother may want to defend her, but feels overwhelmingly threatened too.

In contrast, Jake is calm and grounded because he has two loving parents who care for him and involve him in life around their farm. He helps his mother bake bread and works with his father on various projects. Unlike Lucy's father, Jakes father kills only those animals that harm people or his sheep. However, Jake's father doesn't like the Hardings and he tells Jake he doesn't trust them.

When the two are stuck on Sheldon Mountain because of Jake's ankle, they are mutually attracted. Lucy feels safe with Jake and tells him that she has lied and brought him out to Sheldon Mountain on false pretences. She explains that she did it because she wanted to be free. She then explains to him what her life is like in the Harding family with her father's slaps and his leather strap.  Jake recognizes Lucy's pain as real, lasting pain whereas the pain from his ankle injury will ease with time. 

"What Lucy is feeling, 

that's real pain.

The sort that stabs and pounds

and makes you shake with anger."

When Lucy believes she hears her father outside hunting for her nearby, to protect Jake she decides to leave early in the morning. On her way to get help Lucy sees the animal they've been searching for, perhaps a wild dog, or maybe a wolf. As walks to get help Lucy remembers what her grandma told her,

"Time only goes one way....

She was telling me

to hold tight,

to wait,

that it'll all pass."

Jake's care for her, gives Lucy courage. She now knows she is strong enough to face her abusive father rather than cringe and hide.

"My father can bash me

all he likes,

but I know now,

he can't touch me.

I'm unbreakable.

I'm strong.

Stronger than any fist."

It is Jake's acceptance of Lucy as she is and his keeping an open mind despite what he's been told about the Hardings that gives Lucy the strength to go back for help even though it will mean having to go back home. As it happens, that is not the outcome as her mother decides to confront her father forcing him to leave. 

Jake's immediate acceptance of Lucy, whom he really doesn't know feels somewhat contrived as does their hinted at intimacy in the cave. He's injured and in a lot of pain and she is in tremendous emotional pain and very vulnerable. Peter's narrative felt unnecessary to the storyline. The mystery of the "wolf" remains just that - unresolved.

Readers looking for a story involving a wolf will find a superficial novel that deals with family abuse and teenage relationships. Not recommended.

Book Details:
The Wolf by Steven Herrick
Australia: Allen & Unwin 2006
214pp.

Wolf Pack of the Winisk River by Paul Brown

Wolf Pack of the Winisk River by Paul Brown is a short novel that tells the story of a huge Alpha male, Wolf, over the period of late winter into the summer in the Winisk River area. Wolf's story is told in beautiful free verse that conveys the natural beauty of the northern Canadian wilderness and the brutal reality of predator and prey and the struggle to survive in such an unforgiving environment.

Having lost his mate to a rogue black bear, Wolf is in search of food in the vast northern boreal forest. Food is sparse, and on the verge of starvation, Wolf manages to barely escape wolf hunters on snowmobiles. At this point he is attacked by small pack of wolves - an Alpha female known as Mother, two adult males called Black and White and  Mother's two pups. He easily asserts his dominance over the Alpha female and becomes part of the pack. From this point the story follows the wolve pack as they head north along the Winisk River following a herd of Northern Caribou. Interspersed with this are descriptions of humans traveling through the northern areas.

Discussion

Wolf Pack of the Winisk River was written by retired school teacher, Paul Brown. The wolf is a fascinating animal; incredibly beautiful and at the same time, intimidating, primal and fearful. Brown captures all of that in his novel. The Winisk River is a river in northern Ontario that begins in the Kenora District and runs to Hudson Bay. The name is from the Cree people and means "groundhog" or "woodchuck".

Brown's sparse poetry conveys the terror of the chase when Wolf hunts down prey.

viciously Wolf changes his grip

smothering the animal's muzzle and nose in killer jaws

jaws clamped with fifteen hundred pounds of bone-crushing pressure

preventing the caribou from breathing

the young bull thrashes his legs

shakes his head in terror unable to breathe

but nothing will stop these wolves now

they have gone far too long without food

they are near to starving and death themselves

they will not be beaten here

and within short minutes

the unfortunate bull has passed out from lack of oxygen

his lungs full of his own blood

The beauty of the northern wilderness is captured effectively with delicious detail:

in The Great Northern Forest the world is coming alive

the bald eagle

circling high in the blue sky

feels the strong warmth of the late spring sun

sees many things far below him

pussy willows budding in the shallow creeks

splashing otters slipping smoothly through the water like snakes

happily fishing and playing tag

And even the parallel travels of humans on the Asheweig River is captured in a way that injects some humour and contrast into the narrative. The author presents the vast range of human behaviour - those who try to kill the wolf for sport and who view nature as something to be dominated and those who wish to enjoy the beauty and try to experience some of that beauty as they travel along the Asheweig River.

Brown's poetry is enhanced by the beautiful black and white illustrations done in pen and ink by Ojibway artist  Robert Kakegamic.

Although marketed as a young adult novel, its uncertain as to whether  teens would choose to read it. Brown manages to insert a great deal of factual information about wildlife such as wolverines, polar bears, and great grey owls into the story. And of course, there's a wealth of information about wolves. There's a simple map at the front of the book as well as a brief summary of the pack's journey.

Recommended for reluctant readers and boys interested in wildlife and camping.
Book Details:
Wolf Pack of the Winisk River by Paul Brown
Montreal: Lobster Press    2009
188 pp.