If I had to name one book I will always have a copy of it would be Julie's Wolf Pack by Jean Craighead George for sentimental reasons. The first read time I read this book was in elementary school and it always holds a special place in my heart. Even though it is a book for young children I occasionally read it because I love the story so much. This particular book has had a long lasting effect on me and interests I've had for for almost 20 years.
My Copy of Julie's Wolf Pack by Jean Craighead George.
My copy is very worn on the spine and some of the pages are no longer attached and kept in place with tape. This book has been read more than any other book in my collection. The pages are yellow from age and from a bad habit of mine of reading books while taking a hot bath.
Book Fairs From Elementary School
I bought this book in 1997 at the age of 12. It was a unique day at my elementary school because Scholastic Books was holding a book fair in our auditorium. Once a year Scholastic Books would come to our school and set up shelves of books for sale. I don't have many memories of elementary school but I do remember that specific book fair vividly. I remember I had my own birthday money to buy a book. My mom was a single mom and didn't have much money so I hated asking for things. I was so excited to get a new book and I had my own money to purchase it.
The auditorium had a stage and I remember the specific shelf at the back of the stage where I first saw Julie's Wolf Pack. It was on the second shelf from the top and I remember buying it because I loved the movie Balto released in 1995. I bought it and took it home and it became a priceless classic in my eyes.
More Than A Children's Story About Wolves
The book follows a wolf pack that in a previous book (Julie of the Wolves) adopted a young human lost on the Alaskan tundra. In Julie's Wolf Pack the story is written from the point of view of the wolves and features their story as they survive the harsh wilds of Alaska. Jean Craighead George spent time in Alaska researching human scientists working with wolves. She watched scientists try to "speak" wolf and communicate with them to better understand them. Her research helped her write this book.
Even though the story is about wolves and a fictional story created by George, it has a lot of factual information about wolves that is fascinating. She talks about alpha wolves and the different statuses of members of the pack. She discusses mating rituals, how they raise their puppies, how they can smell sickness in other animals, how they find food according to the seasons, and more. George weaves the fictional thoughts and communication of a pack of wolves with scientific information about wolves in a very educational story.
The Illustrations Are Beautiful
I remember as a kid appreciating the beauty of these animals and how their society worked. It was the first time I'd read a book where any kind of society was explained and you could see how all the different wolf characters interacted and played a role in their pack.
Exert About A Wolf With Rabies
In the story a wolf with rabies is a problem for the wolf pack. The wolves all smell the disease but they don't understand the smell. They keep their distance from her out of fear of the sickly smell which in the end saves their lives.
A Lifetime Love
As I got older and could read more complex books, wolves were a favorite topic of mine because of Julie's Wolf Pack. I've read science books and journals, other fiction books, watched countless documentaries, and more. We have a zoo in a nearby town that has a wolf pack that runs through protected Appalachian mountain land that I love seeing in the warmer months. I've donated money to wolf protection charities that help protect them and their habitats. They are beautiful creatures and I never get tired of learning new things about them.
Possibly Why I Chose Sociology As A Major
One thing I found interesting about Julie's Wolf Pack is the social analysis of the wolves. It was the first time I thought about how creatures interacted with one another to make up a society. As I grew up I was very interested in human behaviors and enjoyed watching people and thinking about their actions and why they acted the way they did. I wouldn't learn there was a social scientific field that specialized in people watching until college.
In college I found the perfect major in Sociology. I decided to major in this field and immersed myself in studying human behaviors and society. I've moved on to reading more scholarly books about people and their society and have boxes and boxes of books dedicated to my love of the social world.
Thinking back I'd say Julie's Wolf Pack was the first book about socialization and society I've ever read. Reading it now as an adult I can compare the fictional wolf society to how human society functions. In a fictional wolf pack I found humanity and I found a love of learning about the social world of people and how all people interact with one another to make up our world. Thirteen years after starting college I'm finishing up a PhD in Sociology and love my work and my field dearly.
