On sale 7 May 2024, my first nonfiction picture book, THE WOLF EFFECT: a wilderness revival story. The illustrations are by the brilliant Jennifer Thermes whose work I have admired for years. I love the warmth and exuberance of her work. Please find more of her wonderful work here. Fun fact: ten years ago, Jennifer drew the map for my novel The Turn of the Tide.
The Wolf Effect is about the return of wolves to Yellowstone Park and the changes they brought to the ecosystem. I am in awe of nature’s resilience and I love to bring the story of restoration to children in these worrying times. If you want to hear the voices of many of the animals in this book, give a listen to the Yellowstone Sound Library.
So proud to share these industry reviews. The Wolf Effect received a starred review from Booklist! The other reviews are from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal.
*The Wolf Effect: A Wilderness Revival Story. By Rosanne Parry, Illus. by Jennifer Thermes, May 2024 Greenwillow 9780062969583,
It’s pretty amazing how much this charming picture book manages to covey in just over 40 pages. There’s a compact history of Yellowstone National Park, told through the evolution of its ecosystem as it transformed during the early twentieth century from a true wilderness to a tourist friendly theme park. There’s an account of the park’s wolf population and how farmers and shepherds succeeded in having the predators hunted to extirpation. There are also accessible examples of how the area’s food chain was affected and how other plants and animals began to decline. All this information flows effortlessly through brief narrative passages; lyrical rhymes that build through the pages, stanza by stanza, as the rippling effects of the absence of wolves spread farther and farther and wonderful illustrations, slightly reminiscent of the art of Wanda Gág of Millions of Cats fame. There’s also an ongoing conversation between a coyote and a bear as they argue the pros and cons of bringing wolves back to Yellowstone, which finally happened in 1995, leading to a transformation as the ecosystem rediscovered its natural balance. The vintage-looking watercolor and colored pencil maps and illustrations are delightful, and the text begs to be read aloud. There’s also generous back matter for researchers. A truly lovely addition to the Yellowstone wolves canon. –Kathleen McBroom Booklist
THE WOLF EFFECT
A Wilderness Revival Story
Author: Rosanne Parry
Illustrator: Jennifer Thermes
A history of wolves in Yellowstone that offers a salutary lesson in how ecosystem management is no walk in the park.
In both cumulative rhyme and a substantial prose afterword, Parry tracks what happened when the wolves of the area that became Yellowstone National Park were exterminated: “No slap of the beaver, no chirp of the sparrow; / The trees became scarce, and the streams became narrow.”When they were reintroduced in the 1990s, the wolves touched off a “trophic cascade” of habitat recovery and increased biodiversity. Thermes, too, goes for a multistranded approach. Maps and historical sidelights (“No Polling Places on Reservation,” observes a 1924 newspaper headline) are mixed with views of broad landscapes studded with wildlife. Inset graphic panels feature informative conversations between an anxious coyote and an omnivorous bear: “Mice are tasty.” “I love a good moth myself. Pine nuts? Fish? Don’t get me started. But wolves? They’re all elk, all the time.” That’s not strictly true, as the author admits, because wolves kill livestock, too (and so do coyotes and bears). Still, “conversations about how to best coexist” are ongoing, as she diplomatically puts it, and the overall benefits of the reintroduction are well documented. The artist appends a labeled gallery of the wild creatures that appear in the pictures, and a note explaining why she chose to portray railroad workers in one 19th-century scene as Chinese (though acknowledging she couldn’t confirm that Chinese immigrants built railways in Yellowstone). Kirkus
An illuminating account of a spectacular eco-success story. (glossary, resource lists) (Informational picture book. 7-9)
THE WOLF EFFECT: A WILDERNESS REVIVAL STORY
Rosanne Parry, illus. by Jennifer Thermes. Greenwillow, $19.99 (40p) ISBN 978-0-06-296958-3
Working in prose, rhyming verse, panel-style art, and sweeping spreads, Parry (A Wolf Called Wander) and Thermes (A Place Called America) tell the absorbing story of what happened when wolf packs were reintroduced into Yellowstone Park. Following introductory pages that detail the park’s 1872 creation—including the way “Indigenous Americans, prospectors, trappers, and settlers were removed”—a facsimile of century-old newspaper headlines trumpet that “Yellowstone Park Is Free of Wolves.” Rhyming verses jump from the subsequent disappearance of other wildlife to the 1995 reintroduction of wolf packs “to help mend the country/ Where once they did roam.” In speech balloons, a coyote worried about the impact of the wolves’ diet is reassured by a bear: “They’re all elk, all the time.” And indeed, the elk, again hunted by wolves, soon leave the streambeds, leading to regrown brush that provides food and shelter, and welcomes multiple species—the newly returned animals are pictured against broad, dramatic mountain vistas in pale blues and golds. Though the myriad storytelling forms don’t always cohere, this rare work about successful environmental regeneration reveals how the reintroduction of a predator can rebalance a habitat. Human characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Extensive back matter concludes. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Fiona Kenshole, Transatlantic Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Marietta B. Zacker, Gallt & Zacker Literary. (May) Publishers Weekly
PARRY, Rosanne. The Wolf Effect: A Wilderness Revival Story. illus. by Jennifer Thermes. 40p. Greenwillow. May 2024. Tr $19.99. ISBN 9780062969583.
Gr 2-4–The reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park after the animals were hunted almost to the point of extinction is the topic of this intriguing book that combines the story of how the presence or absence of one species can affect an entire ecosystem. From the earliest human inhabitants to the establishment of Yellowstone as the country’s first national park in 1872 to modern times, the story follows the effort to first rid the park of wolves, seen as a threat, to the realization that they in fact were important to the delicate balance of both animals and plants. The text, complemented by exceptionally appealing pen and ink illustrations, includes a series of informational panels, a dialogue between a wolf and a coyote who serve as quasi-narrators, and several pages of lyrical rhyming text. Parry makes the complicated subject of a trophic cascade accessible to young readers, though some will find navigating through the many different graphic representations a challenge. Back matter includes a pictorial study of all the animals pictured in the book, a history of wolves in the American west, an artist’s note, a glossary, and additional resources. VERDICT A worthy purchase for the animal lovers in the library.–Sue Morgan SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
Big Truck Day is a joyful romp of a story about a community coming together to make books more accessible by supporting the library book mobile. It could not be a more timely topic and I’m beyond honored to support Niki Stage with text for her debut picture book. Her art is vibrant and joyful. Just the look I was hoping for. You can see more of Niki’s amazing art here. Many thanks to my brilliant editor Virginia Duncan and art director Sylvie Le Floc’h and the team at Greenwillow.
