The Ways of the Wolf

By Smriti Prasadam-Halls and Jonathan Woodward Wren and Rook £12.99

This is a beautiful book. Jonathan Woodward’s illustrations are moody, intense and mysteriously wolfy. I keep returning to the centrepiece – a depiction of shadowy wolves creeping across a midnight landscape. The writing is succinct and lucid, communicating to children what they need to know about wolf biology, geographical range, place in the ecosystem and current threats. I do have a few tiny quibbles, however. It is perhaps not strictly true that wolves pose little threat to humans: in India, they are blamed for numerous casualties. And their ‘shyness’ may not be a fixed characteristic. I suspect they were bolder in the past and, as we cease persecuting them, that they will become bold again.

It’s the pictures that carry the book. I would love to own the originals. In fact, I suggest you buy two copies: one for the bookshelf, and the other (dear oh dear) to dismember and paste lovingly across the children’s bedroom walls. Stephen Mills Wildlife writer