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The Wolf WilderKatherine Rundell
The Wolf Wilder
by Katherine Rundell
In imperial Russia, Feo teaches abandoned pet wolves to be wild again. When a general burns her house, she walks to St Petersburg with the wolves.
A story about children, animals and a grown-up villain, adventurous and epic in tone. We would put it with children of 9–12, and at a reading age of about 10 for reading alone.
Worth knowing before you buy
- Mild peril
- Cruel adults
None of this makes it a bad book — often the opposite. It is here so you can decide whether it is right for your child now or in a year or two.
Our take on this book
In the snowbound forests of imperial Russia, Feo and her mother are wolf-wilders — they teach tamed wolves, cast off by the aristocracy, how to be wild again — until a cruel general threatens their life, and Feo, with a young soldier and a pack of wolves, is drawn into open rebellion. Katherine Rundell writes with fierce, glorious prose, and this is one of her most thrilling: a wintry, wolf-filled adventure about courage, freedom and standing up to tyranny, with an unforgettable heroine and a genuine sense of danger. There is real peril and a dark, oppressive villain, so it suits a reader ready for adventure with proper stakes. For a nine- to twelve-year-old who wants a heroine to root for and a story with snow, wolves and rebellion in it, it is a superb, exciting, beautifully written read — fierce and warm at once — and further proof of why Rundell is among the very best writing for children today.
If they like this, try these
Chosen by matching age, reading age, tone and subject — not by what is selling.
Spirit WalkerMichelle Paver
Wolf BrotherMichelle Paver
Treasure IslandRobert Louis Stevenson
Asha and the Spirit BirdJasbinder Bilan
Beetle BoyM. G. Leonard
Journey to the River SeaEva Ibbotson
Or let them write their own.
Nothing gets a child reading like a story they invented themselves. Your child plans the characters and the plot, and we write, illustrate and print it as a real book with their name on the cover as the author.
Find another book
Tell us the age, the reading age and what they like, and we will suggest a handful.