Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers: February 2025

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

AWARENESS TOUR: Why Wolves Matter: A Conservation Success Story by Karen B. Winnick - REVIEW + GIVEAWAY!

Hi there!

Welcome back to another bookish day here at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers. Today's book fest features a Non-Fiction Picture Book that's currently touring with The Children's Book Review. The featured title on this AWARENESS TOUR shares the story of how one of nature's predators needed more than just its space, but OUR HELP, and how that isn't as uncommon as you might think. Let's take a closer look...

Why Wolves Matter: A Conservation Success Story

Written and Illustrated by

Karen B. Winnick

Ages: 7-9 | 40 Pages

9798886452846

Greenleaf Book Group (2025)

About the book...

Where did all the wolves go? The birds, the fish, and the beavers? When the top predator was wiped out, the balance of nature in Yellowstone National Park was disrupted. The circle was broken.

Written in a lyrical style, Why Wolves Matter is an ecological tale that helps children to understand the interconnectedness of all things in the natural world. Once all the wolves were gone, the elk population grew so large that the trees and vegetation on which they fed disappeared, throwing the Park and the remaining wildlife into disarray.

A nonfiction picture book, including a timeline and bibliography, Why Wolves Matter is about the importance of the top predator in nature, how balance was restored in Yellowstone National Park, and how the circle was made whole again—with important historical and scientific relevance for children.

A deeply committed animal person, Karen B. Winnick has created many picture books about animals. She’s a member of an oversight commission for the Los Angeles Zoo, and a member and supporter of many groups working to save animals, including wolves.

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This book is a great resource for kiddos (and readers of all ages, really) to get a better look at the effects on basically EVERYTHING when even one important piece is removed from the "circle of life". When you think about wolves being gone, or their numbers so greatly reduced that it seems as of they are... some only see protection for their cattle or other animals, less nuisances in their neighborhoods, and less nighttime noise. While yes, some of that may be true, we have to look at the other side of things, and even the middle ground, to capture the TRUE effects. Simple solutions to some of those problems...better fencing and monitoring of areas where animals are housed, and populations staying out of natural habitats that belong to these animals to allow them space; of course, you can't tell mankind not to keep moving forward. The thing is once those numbers were depleted, other effects were felt because the GOOD that they did in nature and their environment was no longer be carried out. You can't have one without the other. Luckily, people stepped in that took time to understand the new problem created, helped educate others on what needed to be done, and now that circle, that balance, has been restored. Could it happen again? What about with other creatures? Certainly... but with education, the hope that it won't shines brighter. That's one thing I love about edutainment books like this...it presents BIG IDEAS in a way that's EASY TO UNDERSTAND and extends the ideas presented further even by giving us the BIGGER PICTURE. It's not just the one that's affected. What seems like a small change has ripple effects that reach beyond the initial impact. So I can't help but ask... what ripples will YOU start today?

A great read for the classroom as well as the home setting. I can easily see it being reached for by animal lovers of all ages as it helps to share the success of one endeavor, and cultivates ideas in others to help prevent those circumstances in the future. The beautiful illustrations help bring the whole tale from the page into our everyday life, while showing readers the works of art that exist in nature.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Winnick is an author and illustrator of Why Wolves Matter, Can You Spot the Leopard: An African Safari, Good Night, Baby Animals, Mr. Lincoln’s Whiskers, Sybil’s Night Ride, Lucy’s Cave, A Year Goes Round, Barn Sneeze, Cassie’s Sweet Berry Pie, Sandro’s Dolphin and Patch & The Strings. She is the author of The Night of the Fireflies. Her paintings have been exhibited in local galleries, and her poetry has been published in magazines and anthologies. She has also produced a play, Kindertransport, about Jewish children sent to England during WWII.

Karen serves as President of the Board of Commissioners for the Los Angeles Zoo; the Board of Trustees Emeritus at Brown University; the Board of Trustees at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library; the Board of Trustees of Fauna and Flora, International and the Board of Governors Syracuse University Hillel. She has also served on the Board of Trustees of The Jewish Museum in New York and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Council in Washington, D.C.

Karen received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University. She also studied in Florence, Italy, at NYU, the School of Visual Arts, and at the University of California, Los Angeles.

For more information, visit karenbwinnick.com.

https://www.instagram.com/karenbwinnick/

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GIVEAWAY

Readers who join us on this virtual tour can win a hardcover copy of Why Wolves Matter: A Conservation Success Story. One lucky winner will receive a signed hardcover copy and a $25 gift card to Amazon. Don’t miss out on your chance to win below!

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Special thanks to The Children's Book Review for the chance to bring this title to you and to author Karen B. Winnick for the copy for review! (THANKS!) This post is sponsored by Karen B. Winnick. The review and opinions expressed in this post are based on my personal view. For more information on this author, her other works, the illustrator, or the publisher, feel free to click through the links above. Be sure to check out the rest of the tour for more bookish fun!

TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday, February 17, 2025

The Children’s Book Review