Wolves (World Life Library)

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful photograpy and a decent intro to wolves
Review: 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.