Once a Wolf: How Wildlife Biologists Fought to Bring Back the Gray Wolf

by Stephen R. Swinburne

Book Overview

With powerful and rare photographs by Jim Brandenburg, Once a Wolf explores the long, troubled relationship between humans and wolves. The book traces the persecution of the wolf throughout history and also reveals the role scientists have played in wolf preservation. The work of scientists can often seem mysterious and intimidating to the nonscientist. No longer! Introducing an exciting perspective on the important work of scientists in all areas...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618111204
• ISBN13: 9780618111206
• Release Date: February 2001
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 48 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 8.8" x 10.8"
• Age Range: 10 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 7

Customer Reviews

Balancing The Scales of Nature

A study in the perserverance and dedication of a group of people to bring the wolf back to its own enviroment in the wildernesses of Yellowstone Montanna. Full of information this book will elate you as well as sadden you, but the winner here of course is the wolf who once more runs free on his land.

Excellent overview of the wolf's history & current issues

Jim Brandenberg always brings the wolf into our homes vividly and with great skill through his photographs, and in this book, these exquisite photos are paired up with the informative writing of Stephen Swinburne. Swinburne covers an excellent range of topics in this short (but highly-informative) book, including the history of the wolf's extermination in this country, early conservationists, wolf behavior and social structure, myth-busting, the Yellowstone project, and the wolf's future prospects.He brings in quotes and information from Leopold, Mech, Bangs, Askins, and many other notable figures in the wolf conservation movement to give correct facts and information. I wouldn't call this a book for younger children; it's written at perhaps a teenager's level, and younger children might find the statistics and assorted other information boring. However, Swinburne does cover the bittersweet story of wolves Numbers Nine and Ten, which personalizes the struggles wolves today face.Swinburne manages to succinctly cover most of the important issues in this relatively brief book (about a half hour's read, perhaps 45 minutes,) and it's a great way to educate yourself or someone else on the basics of wolf conservation. Highly-recommended!

What a great book!

I just took a look at this book and was so impressed. The subject is fascinating, of course, but I'm especially taken with the clear, cogent writing, the terrific quotes, and the truly remarkable photographs. I definitely recommend this for any kid (or adult, for that matter) with an interest in wildlife.

a thoroughly moving natural history lesson for all ages

My 7 year old and I read this book together recently and I think that I learned as much as she did. I knew about reintroduction of wild wolves into Yellowstone but this book told the whole story. Get ready to be impressed with personal sagas of determination and bravery on the part of people who care about wild things. In 1973, while on a field trip in Jasper Park, Alberta, I saw two wild wolves (a white and a black) bounding and romping in the snow. I will never forget the wildness of that sight. This book is richly illustrated with photographs of wolves that give you a glimpse of that wildness. Get this book and read it with a child to share what Rachel Carson called that "sense of wonder" that children have. Be prepared to explain why we systematically exterminated the wolf from its range throughout the United States and why we paid people to kill wolf puppies.This book is a moving, thoughtful lesson in ecology for children of all ages.