Howl Like a Wolf

“Have you tried any of the activities in the book?” I asked my 10-year-old son in preparation for this review. “Well,” he replied sheepishly, “I did pee on a tree to mark my territory.” In fact, Howl Like a Wolf rather conservatively suggests “scratching the ground” or “putting up flags” to do this, even though wolves use “smelly pee and poop” in real life. I then persuaded my seven-year-old to sneak up on his mum like a leopard while she was putting clothes away. The point is that children learn about the biology of animals by imitating them, and this engaging book offers ideas to emulate 15 species – whether wriggling through tight spaces like an octopus, dressing in stripy clothes like a skunk or flicking out your tongue to eat popcorn off a table, like a frog. “Why don’t you try singing like a humpback in the bath?” I suggested later. “Just don’t practise any breaching.”

James Fair Environmental journalist