Arctic Wolf

Arctic Wolf is one of the books in the “Animals Illustrated” series which also includes the titles Polar Bear, Narwhal, and Muskox. Flaherty, a conservation officer and Iqaluit Search and Rescue volunteer, has written a new nonfiction book for elementary school-age children all about the Arctic wolf (animals he became familiar with after living among them in the Arctic).
The book is divided into 11 chapters, each two pages in length with captioned coloured illustrated artwork. After describing the appearance of the animal and showing a size comparison between a human and wolf, Flaherty describes conversational facts about where wolves live, what they eat, and how they raise their pups. Communication is touched upon in the section about wolf packs and the sounds they make and how their body language can be interpreted. The book ends with three fun facts and a summary of an Inuit mythology story involving wolves in human form.

Bigham’s illustrations are large and set against an Arctic background. They are realistic in style, and show the wolves doing a variety of activities (hunting, cleaning the pups, walking, and running.) Artwork details both the inside and outside of the animal (fur, skull, skeleton, teeth).

Young animal lovers will find Arctic Wolf to be a beautiful book that informs and entertains.