Nutik, the Wolf Pup
 Jean Craighead George
 Illustrator Ted Rand
 (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
 2001 HarperCollins
  ISBN: 0060281642


In an Eskimo village at the top of the world lives a little boy whose name is Amaroq, so named for the great wolf leader who saved the life of his big sister, Julie. One day Julie brings home a sickly wolf pup named Nutik.

Amaroq isn't very old -- when he runs his father, the great hunter, lifts Amaroq high above his head; his mother hugs him closely & his sister, catches him up & carries him home to tell him wolf stories.

When his big sister brings home a couple of wolf pups, she puts one into Amaroq's arms telling her little brother to feed & tend it. She also warns her brother not to fall in love with Nutik as she has promised the wolf pack that when both pups are fat & well, they will be returned.

So Amaroq feeds Nutik with a bottle of milk & wraps him in soft rabbit skins. Every day Amaroq takes care of the pup, giving him bites of raw meat & bones to chew & they run in the tundra as Nutik fattens & gets strength into his legs.

& so the summer of the midnight sun passes in a joyful season of laughter & sleep, howling & hunger. Pup & boy are never apart.

One day they all hear the wolf pack calling: “Come home. Come home.” Amaroq runs away from the sound & Nutik follows him.

When they get home, his big sister tells him that her pup has already rejoined the wolf pack & that Nutik is next. Amaroq sadly snuggles down in his bearskin sleeping bag with the pup who licks always his salty tears.

Then in August, the sun begins to set & the days grow shorter until there is no more daylight. One winter night the wolves come to the edge of the village. Nutik wakens Amaroq & insists they go outside.

Out on a hill Nutik's wolf pack is prancing & dancing beneath the stars as Nutik takes Amaroq's mittened hand & leads him to meet his wolf family.

This is a poignant & magical look at the love between a boy & a wolf pup, at the rightness of our actions, the pain of duty & the rewards of responsibility.

Now I want to find all of Jean Craighead George's books & see all of Ted Rand''s illustrations!

Lovely, lovely read!

Jean Craighead George has written over 80 outstanding nature books for children including the novels: Julie of the Wolves; Julie; Julie's Wolf Pack plus Everglades; Look to the North; Morning, Noon, and Night; How to Talk to Your Dog & How to Talk to Your Cat. When she isn't living in a tent in the wilderness, Mrs. George lives in Chappaqua, New York.

Ted Rand is the acclaimed illustrator of over 60 picture books for children including: Longfellow's Paul Revere's Ride, Storm on the Desert & the Salty Dog books written in collaboration with his wife, Gloria Rand. When the Rands are not traveling, they live on Mercer Island, Washington.

(11/04/01)

Rebecca