Lesson for the Wolf

by Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley, Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, Alan Cook (Illustrator)

Overview

In the time before animals were as they are today, Wolf spends his days admiring all the other animals. Not content to simply be a wolf, happy and hunting with his pack, he watches the owls, wolverines, and caribou with envy, wishing that he could be like them.
Wishing he could be anything other than a wolf.
When the magic of the land finally grants his wish, Wolf finds out that what he admires may not be what he really wants in the end.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781772270051
Publisher:	Inhabit Media
Publication date:	04/24/2015
Edition description:	English Edition
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley was born at the northernmost edge of Baffin Island, in the Canadian Arctic. She grew up learning traditional survival lore from her father. She and her husband Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley were brought together by a love of nature and each other. They write Arctic speculative fiction and nonfiction for various ages.

Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley was born at the southernmost edge of Ontario, learning woodcraft from his father. He and his wife Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley were brought together by a love of nature and each other. They write Arctic speculative fiction and nonfiction for various ages.

Alan Cook is an illustrator and visual developer. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Editorial Reviews

The illustrations contribute a great deal to this picture book. The use of earth tones in brown, green and ochre reinforce the wolf’s desire to be part of the Land.”—CM Magazine

From the Publisher

2015-06-29
In this Arctic tale, a wolf discontented with his own nature tries on other animals' features, with dismal results. Rather than run and play like other wolves, the subject of this apparently original story prefers to spy on caribou, wolverines, and snowy owls. He so envies them that he even collects shed antlers, wisps of long fur, and a dropped feather. So heartfelt is the song he sings of his yearning that with the "Land's Strength" he is actually able to attach all of these to his body. But then he returns to his pack and discovers that he fits in even worse than before. In fact, his new patchwork features impede his ability to hunt and eat. Away he wanders, wasting away until the "mother of the wolves" comes to him. She coaxes him to return and to live as a wolf. With his pack's love he is able to undo the changes, healing in both body and spirit. Echoing the narrative's formal cadences, all of the creatures in Cook's muted, windswept tundra scenes pose gracefully. The sinuous white wolf cuts a particularly noble figure and so looks all the stranger when decked out in his borrowed finery. But he is never seen as ridiculous, only misguided, and all ends well: "He was a wolf—and that in itself was admirable." A gentle alternative to Bernard Waber's "You Look Ridiculous," Said the Rhinoceros to the Hippopotamus (1966) and other self-acceptance tales. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews