The Wolf's Footprint

No one writes this kind of dark tale better than Price. It is set in a medieval time in which a failed harvest might mean that the poor starve in winter, unable on pain of a quicker death to touch the deer and rabbits that the rich hunt for sport. Price brilliantly reworks folk themes – abandoned children in the forest, their adoption by wolves, and the ability to shift between animal and human shape – to create an atmospheric and poignant story. It touches obliquely, as such tales often do, on questions of power, privilege and freedom, without losing dramatic intensity. Not a word is wasted. The means by which the children change their form, by drinking the water caught in a wolf or human footprint, is simple and absolutely right. Told in large print, with illustrations (unfortunately unaccredited) that add lightness and humour, the story could be read aloud to a child old enough for Hansel and Gretel, and will grip anyone who is old enough to read it for themselves.