The Wolves of Yellowstone

May 16, 2022
Barr and Desmond deliver a visually striking account of the 1995 reintroduction of 14 gray wolves from Canada to Yellowstone National Park, after more than 60 years without wolves’ presence. Divvied into three parts and myriad subsections, the book contextualizes the hunting of wolves before moving into a chronological close-up of the reintroduced wolves’ first year; following sections detail the positive impact of the wolves’ reintroduction on a host of other species. Wildlife-abundant watercolors and labeled vignettes that use straightforward prose combine to give this natural history narrative a nature journal’s feel, as in a spread that shows a pack’s takedown of a young elk: “The wolves’ powerful chests slice through snow as they bound nose-to-tail.” An excellent resource for teaching about the interrelatedness of ecosystems and keystone species, the volume concludes with a graphic that explains how this apex predator restored and maintains a balanced ecosystem, and presents other examples of rewilding experiments around the globe. Ages 5–8.