Eye of the Wolf

This is an extremely handsome book, beautifully presented, Grafe's illustrations complementing it perfectly. Two very different stories are woven together. Blue Wolf is from the icy North. Captured by hunters, separated from his family he paces his cage in the zoo. The boy Africa is also far from home. His stories are interwoven with those of his animal friends, Saucepans the dromedary, cheetah, hyena, gorilla. All the different stories are finally brought together in the zoo when boy and wolf stare into each other's eyes. There's a drifting lilt to the narrative which conjures up the sense of both snow and sand and which gives the book the immediacy and imprecision of a dream. First published 20 years ago its environmental message now seems heavy-handed but the effect of the mood created is undeniable. A particular type of child will get a great deal from this.