The Wolf Effect: A Wilderness Revival Story

by Rosanne Parry, Jennifer Thermes (Illustrator)

Overview

A Voice of the Wilderness Picture Book

New York Times–bestselling author Rosanne Parry and award-winning artist Jennifer Thermes explore the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park—and the trophic cascade effect they caused—in this informative, timely, and reader-friendly picture book. Features a map and extensive backmatter, as well as humorous comic panels.

Here are the Rockies, their forests are bare. With only an echo of what once lived there.

From award-winning author Rosanne Parry and acclaimed illustrator Jennifer Thermes, The Wolf Effect is an interactive, educational, narrative nonfiction picture book chronicling the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park and the trophic cascade effect they caused. Featuring a blend of poetry, sidebars, and backmatter, as well as reader-friendly comic panels, this picture book explores wolves, food chains, habitats, animal behavior, the environment, the history of Yellowstone Park, the impact of human behavior on the natural world, and how bringing wolves back to the park ultimately rejuvenated its ecosystems.

The Wolf Effect is an accessible and rewarding picture book that will appeal to parents, librarians, environmental activists, and animal lovers of all ages. Features extensive backmatter, including a glossary, resources, an illustrated guide to the animals featured in the book, and notes from the author and artist.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062969583
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/07/2024
Series:	A Voice of the Wilderness Picture Book
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	320,215
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 10.60(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Rosanne Parry is the author of the bestselling novels A Wolf Called Wander, A Whale of the Wild, and A Horse Named Sky as well as The Wolf Effect, a picture book illustrated by Jennifer Thermes. These “Voice of the Wilderness” stories center the voices of wild animals and focus on their struggle to survive in a dangerous and changing world. Based on rigorous research and inspired by the real animals of the western United States, Rosanne’s books are treasured by teachers and librarians and adored by animal-loving readers of all ages. The author lives with her family in Portland, Oregon, and writes in a treehouse in her backyard. 

Jennifer Thermes is a mapmaker, an artist, and the award-winning author and illustrator of many acclaimed books for children, including A Place Called America. She is fascinated by the big picture of history and how it connects the past with our lives today. Jennifer Thermes lives in New Hampshire. 

Editorial Reviews

03/04/2024

Working in prose, rhyming verse, panel-style art, and sweeping spreads, Parry (A Wolf Called Wander) and Thermes (A Place Called America) tell the absorbing story of what happened when wolf packs were reintroduced into Yellowstone Park. Following introductory pages that detail the park’s 1872 creation—including the way “Indigenous Americans, prospectors, trappers, and settlers were removed”—a facsimile of century-old newspaper headlines trumpet that “Yellowstone Park Is Free of Wolves.” Rhyming verses jump from the subsequent disappearance of other wildlife to the 1995 reintroduction of wolf packs “to help mend the country/ Where once they did roam.” In speech balloons, a coyote worried about the impact of the wolves’ diet is reassured by a bear: “They’re all elk, all the time.” And indeed, the elk, again hunted by wolves, soon leave the streambeds, leading to regrown brush that provides food and shelter, and welcomes multiple species—the newly returned animals are pictured against broad, dramatic mountain vistas in pale blues and golds. Though the myriad storytelling forms don’t always cohere, this rare work about successful environmental regeneration reveals how the reintroduction of a predator can rebalance a habitat. Human characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Extensive back matter concludes. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Fiona Kenshole, Transatlantic Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Marietta B. Zacker, Gallt & Zacker Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

It's pretty amazing how much this charming picture book manages to convey in just over 40 pages. . . . The vintage-looking watercolor and colored-pencil maps and illustrations are delightful, and the text begs to be read aloud. . . . A truly lovely addition to the Yellowstone wolves canon.” — Booklist (starred review)

“A history of wolves in Yellowstone that offers a salutary lesson in how ecosystem management is no walk in the park. In both cumulative rhyme and a substantial prose afterword, Parry tracks what happened when the wolves of the area that became Yellowstone National Park were exterminated. . . . An illuminating account of a spectacular eco-success story.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Working in prose, rhyming verse, panel-style art, and sweeping spreads, Parry and Thermes tell the absorbing story of what happened when wolf packs were reintroduced into Yellowstone Park. . . . This rare work about successful environmental regeneration reveals how the reintroduction of a predator can rebalance a habitat.” — Publishers Weekly

“The story follows the effort to first rid the park of wolves. . . to the realization that they in fact were important to the delicate balance. . . . The text [is] complemented by exceptionally appealing pen and ink illustrations. . . . Parry makes the complicated subject of a trophic cascade accessible to young readers. . . . A worthy purchase for the animal lovers in the library.” — School Library Journal

“A wonderful book for little ecologists.” — Washington Post

From the Publisher

05/01/2024

Gr 2–4—The reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park after the animals were hunted almost to the point of extinction is the topic of this intriguing book that combines the story of how the presence or absence of one species can affect an entire ecosystem. From the earliest human inhabitants to the establishment of Yellowstone as the country's first national park in 1872 to modern times, the story follows the effort to first rid the park of wolves, seen as a threat, to the realization that they in fact were important to the delicate balance of both animals and plants. The text, complemented by exceptionally appealing pen and ink illustrations, includes a series of informational panels, a dialogue between a wolf and a coyote who serve as quasi-narrators, and several pages of lyrical rhyming text. Parry makes the complicated subject of a trophic cascade accessible to young readers, though some will find navigating through the many different graphic representations a challenge. Back matter includes a pictorial study of all the animals pictured in the book, a history of wolves in the American west, an artist's note, a glossary, and additional resources. VERDICT A worthy purchase for the animal lovers in the library.—Sue Morgan

School Library Journal