Faelan the Wolf Book One: Odd Wolf Out by Juliette Maciver

 

Before I talk about this book I do need to give you a warning - this is Book One in a planned three book series and the first book ends with a cliff hanger which will leave you desperate for Book 2 which is published and available and then for Book 3 which is not out yet!

Faelan is different - he is a non-conformer in the wolf pack. He does not enjoy hunting for prey. He does not want to eat the forest creatures that are caught by the pack. He lives on his own in a small hut constructed from debris discarded by humans. He has a small vegetable plot, and he enjoys eating beans which he cooks on a small fire. The other wolves are suspicious of Faelan, they fear fire and so, many of the young wolves bully and ostracize him. Faelan is lonely but he has made friends with a skunk named Flora. Of course, this also horrifies the other wolves because they expect to eat creatures like Flora and not invite them to be a friend. 

The pack is ruled by an old wolf named Bardolph Lupus but he is growing old and weak. To some extent Bardolph has protected Faelan, but his son and heir named Weylin has a plan to reverse this. Faelan has been told his father and mother are dead. He has a faint memory of his mother and her singing, but his father is a mystery. Then he learns his father is not dead. He was banished from the pack and is now rumored to be the leader of the rival pack. His father's name is Varg and he is very dangerous.

This book is only 172 pages. It does contain some interesting ideas - such as the issue of battery hens, conformity versus nonconformity and the abuse of power. The character of Weylin is especially curious and I expect we will learn more about him in book 2. He wears gloves:

"Weylin rose to his hind legs, smoothed down the white gloves he always wore on his forepaws ... "

When Faelan visits Weylin's den he sees Weylin (who always purports to be brave and 'manly') has decorated his space with flowers and art. 

"Covering the entrance to this private chamber hung fine curtains of spider weave, again interlaced with flowers, this time tiny blue forget-me-nots, which were worked into the curtains in intricate patterns."

Here are the teachers notes from the publisher who describes this book as an anthropomorphic fantasy. These notes have more plot details.

If you are sharing this book with a class or introducing it in your library you could talk about the author's choices for character names: Avian (the chicken); Granny Beowulf (the healer who understands how to use herbs collected in the forest); and Flora (the skunk - she does not smell like flowers).  I also learnt a new word in this book ‘mouflon' - this is a type of sheep which should make you laugh when you think about where this book comes from! Readers aged 10+ who enjoy quirky books told from a different point of view will enjoy Odd Wolf Out. 

Odd Wolf Out is published by Scholastic in New Zealand. It was offered on our Australian Scholastic Book club brochure which explains how I came to find it in the Westmead Children's Hospital library (Book Bunker) where I volunteer. The library is a philanthropic cause supported by Scholastic Australia and that company are our main source of new books for the collection.

Faelan Maculf’s story may not be a laugh a minute, but it is an important story about tolerance, kindness, and complicated family—with a bit of humour. The Sapling

Here is book two:

Teachers notes with a story synopsis

Companion reads although these are both more serious and not anthropomorphic:

A Wolf called Wonder

Firstborn

In some ways this book reminded me of this one:

The Wolves of Greycoat Hall

Louis I King of the Sheep Olivier Tallec

Louis finds a crown and declares he is the king! On the title page he appears in his ermine cape with a scepter (tree branch). He sits on his throne (low fork of a tree) and observes his subjects. He dispenses justice, makes speeches, and goes hunting. King Louis I decides he should hunt lions but "since there were no lions in his kingdom, he would have them brought to him for his pleasure." 

Echoing Louis XIV of France,  Louis I lives in a grand place and his worker sheep tend his magnificent royal gardens which contain statues of Louis I and topiary forms in his image. He even meets with ambassadors from other lands (moose, penguin, tapir and raccoon). Louis I has now become a dictator - he orders his people to march behind him "in sheep step".

Then we come to the most chilling page of all:

"Next, Louis I decided that only the sheep who resembled him could live at his side. The others must be driven out."

Thank goodness at this point it is another windy day and his crown blows away. Oh no wait til you see where in lands!

The publisher and most reviewers list this as a picture book for young children but I think the audience that will really appreciate the power and leadership commentary afforded by the story should be much older children in senior classes aged 10+. Louis I King of the Sheep was originally published in French (2014 English Edition 2015 Enchanted Lion Books).  I looked for some teaching notes - I am sure there would be some produced in French.  Read more about Olivier Tallec here. You could also use this book with High School students - read the review below from Brain Pickings below which mentions deeper themes such as The Holocaust.

Tallec leaves it up to readers to decide how much of Louis’power trip is imaginary, giving them plenty of details to pore over while they muse.  It’s a political education—Schoolyard Politics 101—in a picture book, one well worth having on the bookshelf. Kirkus

As Louis I rises to power by nothing more than chance, he gradually transmogrifies into an entitled and arrogant tyrant. BrainPickings

Difficult to find sweeter and more tender than a sheep, you think. And yet! Give a little bit of power (or illusion of power) to one of these harmless beings, and you will see what will happen: authoritarianism, tyranny, segregation ... Fortunately, it is always possible to get rid of a leader, but will the one that follows necessarily be better? Actua Litte

I would pair Louis I King of the sheep with these books:

Bless this mouse by Lois Lowry illustrated by Eric Rohmann

There seem to have been such a lot of books about mice on my reading pile lately so I waited to begin this one.  I find it best to mix up my reading between genres so that I can remember the plot lines of individual books and not blend them together.

With the election of the new Pope last week this was the perfect book to read this morning as it set in a church although this in an Anglican church.  On my recent trip to UK I visited grand churches and enjoyed hearing those beautiful names like nave, transept, chancel and sacristy.  In this book Bless this mouse I have learnt a new term - narthex.  "Next she found herself in the narthlex  Hildegarde so liked the formal names for the parts of the church.  If she were an ordinary mouse, she thought, twitching her nose at this idea, this would be know as the front hall.  What an ordinary name! Narthex had a ring to it.  You knew you were in an important place when you entered a narthex!"

Hildegarde is mouse mistress at Saint Barthloemew's.  In her charge are over 200 mice including her friends Roderick and Francis, who used to live at the university library, and her rival Lucretia.

This book is simply a delight.  If you are a Tumtum and Nutmeg fan you must read Bless this Mouse. Hildegarde herself is a wonderful character. She is firm in her convictions, wise in her actions and loyal to her people.  When not one not two but three mice are seen by humans in the church Hildegarde know it is time to act quickly before the Great X leads to their extermination.  She carefully organizes for all the mice to leave the church and take shelter in the graveyard.  "I know most of you have never been Outdoors before.  We are not, after all, field mice!'  The audience tittered.  Field mice! Of course they weren't field mice!.  'And we will not be here long. Probably two days. But I myself have traveled a bit from time to time, and have learned to appreciate some of the dangers of the Outdoors.  So I want to alert you."

The first plan to avoid the Great X involves eating the phone book so Father Murphy cannot find the number to call, then they decide to just eat the page with the number so the mice, after some very hard work, turn the phone book to the X section only to discover there is no mention of the terrible X.  Later Hildegarde overhears Father Murphy on the phone and realizes their mistake.  It is not X it is E for EXTERMINATOR!

The way these wonderful mice outwit the exterminator will have you cheering right to the last page.  Here is a detailed review and another one too.  This book also reminded me of Mossop's last chance by Michael Morpurgo which has long been a favourite book of mine.