The name Eve Bunting and the promise of a story about wildlife prompted me to pick up On Call Back Mountain. The painting of two children and a dog on the cover drew me in. But wait--that's not a dog. It's a wolf.
Barry Moser did create stunning illustrations for this picture book about . . . what? I couldn't quite comprehend the story. It's a loosely connected series of events with minimal closure. We meet two young boys on their farm at the bottom of Call Back Mountain. Bosco visits in June on his way up to the fire tower. He's accompanied by two mules, Aida and Traviata. There's reference to "the fire a few summers ago that drove the wolves away, the wolves and coyotes and the other animals, too." This fire was deliberately set, but there's no follow up to help the reader cope with such an evil act. We skip over that inconvenience to Bosco's promise that the forest will soon be thick and healthy again.
Bosco heads on up the mountain. He and the family exchange light signals each night. "All through the summer we send out good nights across the darkness, and it's as if Bosco is still with us. Until, one night no light answers ours." Yes, he's dead.
At the end of the story, the children see a wolf. "That wolf had the longest, skinniest legs." (Unlike the canine on the book cover.) And that's it. Bosco promised that the wolves would return. They have. The howl of a nearby wolf is supposed to be comforting considering the abrupt death of Bosco.
This story felt unfinished to me. Like a beaded necklace an artist didn't have time to complete, I'm left wondering if Eve Bunting was going to miss a publishing deadline if she'd worked on this story a bit more.
