• Age: 4 to 8
• Grade: p to 3

For our 40th anniversary Fitzhenry & Whiteside is issuing a newly designed edition of this classic bestseller! Information Book of the Year Mr. Christie's Book Award nominee Shortlisted for 1989 Mr. Christie's Children's Book Award for illustration Children's Literature Roundtable of Canada 1990 Information Book of the Year

With a new cover and newly designed interiors, Wolf Island is sure to be a howl! It's a vivid, full colour portrait of nature, and the fragile balance of a natural ecosystem.

Set on an island in Northern Ontario, the Wolf Island story, based on an actual event, is a moving chronicle of what happens when the highest link in a food chain is removed. The resultant population growth, food shortage, and starvation affect every member of the chain.

A family of wolves leave their island environment. Although, at first, their absence is unnoticed, nature's delicately balanced ecosystem comes undone over a period of months, and the mice, rabbits, squirrels, and even owls fight for survival. Finally, the accidental return of the wolf family to their home restores the island habitat to health.

Celia Godkin's dramatic, full colour illustrations will inspire readers of all ages. Her scientific portrait of an ecosystem and its component species will not be easily forgotten.

Author-illustrator Celia Godkin is is best known for her debut book, Wolf Island, which won the Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada Information Book Award. She has continued to write and illustrate children's books with environmental themes including Fire! which was shortlisted for the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction. Skydiver: Saving the Fastest Bird in the World has been nominated for the Green Earth Book Award. Born in England, Celia lives in Eastern Ontario.

Celia Godkin's profile page

"Rarely has the working of an ecosystem been demonstrated in such a straightforward and dramatic way. Young children will be able to understand the story, and older children will find much to think about and discuss. Celia Godkin does not waste a word and her lovely full-colour illustrations make this a memorable book, which should be in every school and public library."
-- Canadian Materials

"Although the text remains unchanged from the 1993 edition (Freeman), larger page size and improved formatting make the story easier to share with groups. Instead of fading into the illustrations, the text blocks are highlighted and framed. The pictures themselves are brighter and more sharply focused versions of the originals. Pages are fewer in number, necessitating some shifts of text and the elimination of a few images. Overall, the revisions add to the books visual appeal. . . Libraries without the original book should definitely consider purchasing this one, and collections with an older copy may want to substitute this more readable version."
-- School Library Journal