Why Wolves Matter: A Conservation Success Story Book Review #WhyWolvesMatter ~

This post is sponsored by Karen B. Winnick. The review and opinions expressed in this post are based on my personal views.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Why Wolves Matter: A Conservation Success Story
Written and Illustrated by Karen B. Winnick

Ages: 7-9 | 40 Pages

Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group (2025) | ISBN: 979-8886452846

Publisher’s Book Summary: 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.

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble ~ Bookshop.org

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/

MY REVIEW

Why Wolves Matter: A Conservation Success Story is a must have addition to any child’s book collection and my kids and I absolutely loved it! This is a book that tells the tale of why wolves matter…. and how they are important to the circle of life in Yellowstone National Park. I did not know that in 1926, the last Gray Wolf was killed in Yellowstone, and that the species was indeed wiped out. This caused a rift in the circle of life within the park….. and this amazing book showcases the much needed and vital role that Gray Wolves play as a large predator in the park and beyond. Without them the Elk Herds grew bigger and started eating all of the woody plants and grasses and then they even ventured into the parks forests and began destroying those as well. This ended up affecting the birds that lived in the park and then later the fish that swam in the rivers and beyond. The damage done did not stop there because the elk herds continued to ravage parts of the park that also negatively impacted beavers, waterfowl and even the bears. Eventually the elk herds grew to be so big that there was not enough food to sustain them and they ended up growing sick and eventually starved. This is when some people began to understand that there was no longer balance within the circle of life in Yellowstone and that the circle had been badly broken. They began to understand the importance of Gray Wolves and the role they play as a large predator in Yellowstone and this is where the conservation success story comes in because the gray wolves were reintroduced to the park within the past few decades and balance has in turn been brought back to the park. The trees, bushes and shrubbery have grown back and now all of the various animals and waterfowl are flourishing once again. There is a balance to the circle and all is well again.