Beyond Words: What Wolves and Dogs Think and Feel (A Young Reader's Adaptation)

by Carl Safina, Carl Safina (Illustrator)

Overview

Eye-opening, wise, and filled with triumphant and heartbreaking stories about the wolf population at Yellowstone (as well as some personal anecdotes about dogs), Carl Safina's Beyond Words: What Wolves and Dogs Think and Feel accessibly explores the mysteries of animal thought and behavior for young readers.

Weaving decades of field research with exciting new discoveries about the brain, and complete with astonishing photos, Beyond Words offers an extraordinary look at what makes these animals different from us, but more importantly, what makes them similar, namely, their feelings of joy, grief, anger, and love.

These similarities between human and nonhuman consciousness and empathy allow the reader to reexamine how we interact with animals as well as how we see our own place in the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250144669
Publisher:	Roaring Brook Press
Publication date:	04/21/2020
Series:	Beyond Words , #2
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
File size:	46 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Carl Safina is the recipient of a MacArthur Genius prize and a Guggenheim fellowship, among other accolades. He hosted the PBS series Saving the Ocean and his writings have appeared in The New York Times, Time, and Audubon. He lives on Long Island, New York, with his wife, their dogs, and feathered friends.

Carl Safina's work has been recognized with MacArthur, Pew, and Guggenheim Fellowships, and his writing has won Orion, Lannan, and National Academies literary awards and the John Burroughs, James Beard, and George Rabb medals. He has a PhD in ecology from Rutgers University.

Safina is the inaugural holder of the endowed chair for nature and humanity at Stony Brook University, where he co-chairs the steering committee of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science and is founding president of the not-for-profit Safina Center. He hosted the 10-part PBS series Saving the Ocean with Carl Safina. His writing appears in The New York Times, National Geographic, Audubon, Orion, and other periodicals and on the Web at National Geographic News and Views, Huffington Post, and CNN.com.

Carl's books include Voyage of the Turtle, Becoming Wild, and The View from Lazy Point.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Why We're Going 1

Chapter 1 Wolves at First Sight 3

Chapter 2 The Perfect Wolf 9

Chapter 3 Packing and Unpacking 19

Chapter 4 The Wolf Named Six 33

Chapter 5 A Shattering of Promises 45

Chapter 6 In a Time of Truce 57

Chapter 7 Magnificent Outcasts 59

Chapter 8 Where the Wolf Birds Lead Us 73

Chapter 9 Wolf Music 79

Chapter 10 The Hunter Is a Lonely Heart 91

Chapter 11 A Will to Live 99

Chapter 12 Domestic Servants 107

Chapter 13 Two Ends of the Same Leash 119

Chapter 14 Pet Peeves 129

Chapter 15 They're Not Confused; We're Confused 137

Chapter 16 Sharing and Caring 145

Acknowledgments 150

Notes 152

Selected Bibliography 159

Photo Credits 163

Index 164

Editorial Reviews

Beyond Words:

"Captivating. . . . A profound, scientifically based appeal for recognition of the kinship of all living things." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"In this mind-bending book, Safina takes the reader along with him on his adventures, enlightening and educating at each of his stops." --Publishers Weekly

"This well-researched book is a fascinating and thought-provoking investigation of different ways of viewing non-human creatures and their inner lives." --Library Journal

"Carl Safina shows there is indeed intelligent life in the universe, and it's all around us. At once moving and surprising, Beyond Words asks us to reexamine our relationship to other species--and to ourselves." --Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction

From the Publisher

04/01/2020

Gr 4–8—This young reader's adaptation of Safina's 2015 title describes the communication and interactions of wolves and dogs. The first 11 chapters are an account of the author's time studying wolves in Yellowstone National Park; Safina shares what he learned about the animals, both from his own observations and from his conversations with scientists who study wolves full time. In the remaining six chapters, the focus shifts to domesticated dogs, detailing how they evolved alongside humans and how they retain some of the same characteristics as immature wild wolves. While the chapters about domesticated dogs are somewhat less interesting, the stories of the Yellowstone wolves are extremely compelling, showing the strong personalities of individual wolves and the sophisticated way in which they interact with one another. Readers will find themselves captivated by the wolves' storylines, choosing their favorites and rooting for individual animals. They will also absorb the wealth of scientific information that Safina sneaks into the narrative. Back matter includes a selected bibliography. VERDICT This volume provides fascinating reading for middle grade animal lovers, especially those who love dogs.—Sarah Reid, Four County Library System, NY

School Library Journal

★ 2020-02-09
Following on the heels of Beyond Words: What Elephants and Whales Think and Feel (2019), this second adaptation of Safina’s adult bestseller Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel (2015) provides strong evidence for the author’s assertion that “A wolf is not an ‘it.’ A wolf is a ‘who.’ ”

The conversational text begins with a short prologue about the author’s decision to research wolves in the wild to better understand his own dogs, Jude and Chula. Off he goes to the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park, where scientists have been collaring and tracking wolves since their reintroduction in 1995. The last of the indigenous wolves had been killed by a dutiful park ranger in 1926—before most people understood that without wolves, that particular ecosystem was doomed. Indeed, only a few years after reintroduction, the system had rebalanced. In 2012, gray wolves were removed from the federal endangered species list, and Wyoming ended its moratorium on wolf-killing. Used to moving beyond the confines of the national park during winter, wolves who had never feared humans were easy prey for hunters. Safina makes it heartbreakingly clear that each dead wolf represents a huge disturbance to each discrete wolf pack. Readers learn the personal histories, behaviors, and personalities of several specific wolves. There is some humor to soften the overall alarming wake-up call, and vivid descriptions allow readers to join treks across wintry landscapes. Later in the book, attention turns to the author’s dogs, domestication, and even theory of mind, all conveyed clearly and succinctly.

A fascinating and foreboding call to action. (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews