Review: Wolf Brother

The first in Michelle Paver's hugely successful 'Chronicles of Ancient Darkness' series, it's the quest of a young man and his adopted wolf cub companion.

Wolf Brother hits the ground running when Torak’s father is savaged and killed by a demonic bear. Pitted against the bear, Torak must curb it’s growing power, helped by an orphaned wolf cub and a girl from the hostile Raven Clan.

Loved by girls who want adventure in an exhilarating world with a magical realism feel rather than fantasy. Girls who feel kinship with animals and the natural world. Girls who have an interest in prehistoric life or beliefs.

Themes- coming of age, understanding your destiny, nature spirituality, saving a friend or saving a community.

How to get more out of it for keen readers

The prehistoric world is a gift for enquiring minds as so much is unknown. To find out about Paleolithic life, Cresswell Crags shows a site continuously inhabited since the end of the Ice Age (https://www.creswell-crags.org.uk/) for an insight into the art and celebration of the animals, I’d recommend the Lascaux caves (https://kids.kiddle.co/Lascaux).

How to get more out of it for social readers

As a book with a vividly drawn world, there’s plenty of play and world building whether it’s dens in trees, map making or foraging treasures from the woodland like birch bast. If you haven’t tried woodland skills or camping before, this can open a whole new style of reading playdate. The map on the inside cover introduces the many clans which aren’t mentioned in Wolf Brother; a perfect invitation to create heroines, legends and adventures.

How to get more out of for reluctant readers

Wolf Brother isn’t an easy read as a lot is implied and there are some jumps where readers can miss a critical detail. However, it’s a lovely read and there is a fabulous audiobook version read by Sir Ian McKellan. This a good choice to curl up and listen to; just close your eyes and listen to a prehistoric world unfold around you. If you enjoy outdoor activities with your girl, connecting Wolf Brother to survival and foraging skills can make this world come to life. Collecting birch bark and making fire has the wow factor for girls that like hands on whereas foraging for wild garlic or nettles for cooking later gives a slower pace that can make a moment for deeper conversations.

How to get more out of it for deepening connection

There’s some big questions here about individual v community and whether going it alone is for everyone. It’s the perfect opener if your girl has social connections on her mind. Torak has to make decisions about when to share his quest by trusting both Renn and Wolf. There’s also so big themes around maturity – Torak is unexpectedly orphaned in the first chapter but at 13 years of age, clearly considers himself an adult. Shifting through what makes him an adult and what makes him still a boy will give a nice opening on some self-reflection for your preteen.

Where next?

If she’s drawn to the history, A Street Through Time is a brilliant visual guide to innovation and domestic life beginning at roughly the same time as Wolf Brother. The Boy with the Bronze Axe is the later story of the Neolithic age moving into the Bronze Age but set on Orkney so gives real life contexts to explore. If it’s the magical realism, where the world is believable and there’s magical sprinkled rather than the main focus, A Pinch of Magic is an exciting read. As the story of sisters, it’s a nice contrast to the relationship between Torak and Renn in Wolf Brother.