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From the Candlewick Press catalog
Little Wolf can hardly wait. Tonight he will howl the moon to the top of the sky. First, Big Wolf demonstrates
traditional howling form: AAAAAAAAAAOOOOOooooooooo. Then it's Little Wolf's turn. He's sure he is ready, but when
the big moment comes, something happens. Something unexpected, something wild, something unbe-beep-bop-believable!
Sisters Laura McGee Kvasnosky and Kate Harvey McGee have created a wonderful story about the importance of doing
things your own way and being true to your heart when it swells with wildness and joy. Some may favor the proper way
to howl, but what if you have a song in your heart that needs to come out?
A delightful, disarmingly funny tale for little and big wolves everywhere.
The Story of the Making of Little Wolf
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| My sister Kate and I got into character to work on the illustrations. |
Little Wolf's First Howling is close to my heart because it was inspired by our first grandchild, Emmett John.
The story arose when my husband John and I were playing with a wolf puppet we purchased for the soon-to-be born
baby. I worked over the text and then the dummy with my critique group as well as family readers then sent it
off to Candlewick Press, where it connected with editor Katie Cunningham and art director Heather McGee.
The story takes place at night. Heather explained this would require the artwork to have two black plates.
Typically printing requires four plates, CYMK — cyan, yellow, magenta and black. Little Wolf's art is printed
with CYMKK to achieve velvety blacks and make it easier to swap out text for other languages.) I would need to
create artwork separated into two parts: a black over-layer and a color under-layer. The black layer I did in
gouache resist, using only white paint and black ink.
My younger sister Kate is an accomplished pastel painter. This book depends on the beautiful landscape of
Yellowstone, so I asked Kate if she'd be willing to provide the color layer. I scanned my black and white
paintings and sent them to Kate. She added color digitally. I loved collaborating with Kate and the excitement
of finding out how she would color each spread.
The book was published about the time Emmett John turned two.
Videos
Laura and Little Wolf were honored to be the first book selected for the Oak Harbor Library's new waterfront Story Trail that opened in June 2019.
Join author Laura and her co-illustrator sister, Kate, as they "howled" up and down the West Coast for Little Wolf's launch tour in spring 2017.
Reviews
"Kvasnosky's story celebrates all that is fresh and original in the creative spirit
of children, and her text will be great fun as a read-aloud, especially after some practice. Kvasnosky and McGee's
collaborative illustrations are done in gouache resist with digital colorization, a striking technique that
particularly emphasizes the black night and the bright moonlight. All double-page spreads, the illustrations
successfully evoke the vast beauty of the country the wolves inhabit. Visually lovely and sure to be a read-aloud
hit; put on some Ella Fitzgerald, too."
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Kids will enjoy seeing the supportive father-son relationship, in which each party learns from the other.
From the woodland, meadow and mountain settings to the appealing depictions of the wolves, the distinctive
illustrations were created collaboratively. Kvasnosky contributed the bold, black line drawings and textured
effects, while her sister McGee — a landscape artist — added beautiful, soft, dusky colors. Written with economy
and wit, this handsome picture book is a natural for reading aloud, and kids will be ready to help when it's
time to cut loose and howl."
— Carolyn Phelan, Booklist (starred review)
"The perfectly paced narrative is filled with warmth and humor...Fun to read – and howl – aloud, this tale of tackling a first
experience with originality and élan is ideal for storytime or family sharing."
— School Library Journal (starred review)
"Little Wolf wants to make howling his own. In its nod to individuality and originality, this wise book is not just about
growing up but also about being yourself."
— San Francisco Chronicle
"(Little Wolf) captures the solemnity and playfulness of a wonderful father-son relationship. In moonlit illustrations, Big
Wolf demonstrates proper howling form, but though his cub makes a sincere effort, he keeps veering into improvisation
('skibbity skobbity skooo-woooo'). It's so endearing that eventually Big Wolf can't help joining in."
— The Wall Street Journal
Honors
Little Wolf's First Howling was honored with the third annual Margaret Wise Brown Honor Book Award in Children's Literature. The prize,
named for the beloved author of Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny, recognizes the best picture book
text published in the previous year. The award is judged by a panel of established children's writers and is presented by Wise's
alma mater, Hollins University, of Roanoke, Virginia.
2018 Charlotte Zolotow Award — Highly Commended
The Zolotow Award program of the Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC) at the University of Wisconsin annually recognizes
outstanding writing in picture books. Little Wolf was one of its select highly commended titles for the year. "Distinctive
digitally rendered paintings reminiscent of colored block prints create an inviting backdrop for a story begging to be howled aloud."
The Wall Street Journal — Children's Books: The Best of 2017
Library Love
Following its century-old tradition, The New York Public Library issued its 2017 list of the 100 most noteworthy children's
books published in the year and Little Wolf's song floated up among the winners. See their full list at nypl.org/kids2017.
The Chicago Public Library included Little Wolf on its 2017 list of the very best picture books published for
kids from birth to 3rd grade.
Read Aloud Raves
Thanks to the votes of more than 26,000 Oklahoma school kids, our own Little Wolf's First Howling was the winner of the first-ever Redbud Read-Aloud Award, given in May of 2018. Whoo Hooooooooooo!
'Joy and Wildness' Abound
Noted outdoor early-child educators Tinkergarten singled out Little Wolf for inspiring "joy and wildness"
in the development and play of young children. Tinkergarten created a Little Wolf-themed curriculum for its teachers
that included lots of ideas for their outdoor classrooms. See founder Meghan Fitzgerald's perspective
here.
Related Links
- You can see Kate Harvey McGee's fine art here.
- You can read my journal entries related to the making of Little Wolf here.
- Photographer Max Waugh introduced us to Yellowstone and its wildlife in his beautiful images. You can see
his photos here.
- And check out the video about the amazing positive impact of reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone
here.
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