Review by Booklist Review
The cover photo will pull readers right in: a split picture--half golden retriever and half gray wolf. And once inside, kids will be fascinated by the similarities between their friendly pets and wild wolves. The book begins with a (too) brief explanation of how the species diverged. This is the book's one real shortfall; kids will be left with questions about dogs' origins. But after that, the text takes off, explaining the differences and similarities between dogs and wolves and answering such questions as Can wolves be trained? and Why does a dog like to lick humans' faces? (The answer isn't pretty.) There's also information about the animals' senses, the meaning of their poses and expressions, their food and behavior. Bolstering all this are terrific black-and-white and color photographs--some filling up the pages, others in snapshot form. The wolves are often suitably scary, and the dogs are pretty darn cute. Several Web site references are listed on the final pages. --Linda Zeilstra Copyright 2006 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-This book identifies instinctual behaviors in wolves, such as pack living, licking and biting at one another, and howling, and describes how they are manifested in the common house dog, even though the species changed thousands of years ago. Bidner touches on myths as well, citing references to the Big Bad Wolf of "Red Riding Hood" fame and Aesop's fable about the wolf and the dog. Clear color photographs beautifully illustrate the text. This informative, entertaining title is suitable for reports and for general reading.-Cynde Suite, Bartow County Library System, Adairsville, GA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
