Red Wolf Country by JonathanLondon is a picture book with purpose, poetic prose, and illustrations that are beautiful two-page-spread paintings. A mated pair of endangered red wolves travel through coastal wetlands, possibly the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina. She-Wolf’s secret invites us to turn the pages. Daniel San Souci’s gorgeous art is another reason. Then, there’s the journey, which London marks explicitly with words and structurally with transitions from late winter into summer. We witness the wolves’ struggle for survival. Hunting for food is not always successful. When a “nervous farmer raises a rifle”, the pair must evade bullets . . . and alligators! They head high into the hills. Finally, they find a home beneath a fallen tree, and Souci rewards readers with a sensational image of a red wolf mother with her newborn pups.
Readers may want to talk about the pros and cons of wildlife protections.
This book is read aloud online by Asheville Farmstead School
My Picture Book Talk lesson for this story is here.
I was so pleased with Jonathan Landon's poetic prose that I requested three more of his books about wildlife from the library. Jackrabbit (1996) with illustrations by Deborah Kogan Ray, touched my heart. Ice Bear Little Fox (1998) with illustrations by Daniel San Souci and Little Fox in the Snow (2018) with illustrations by Daniel Miyares did not amaze me in the same way that Red Wolf Country did. For me, the prose lacked magic and the stories were somewhat depressing survival scenarios.
