I was delighted to have this little book poked through the doorway to my cave yesterday. The cover, with its blood red title of ‘Wolf’ and its fantastic illustration, instantly caught my attention. WARNING! This book grabs you by the throat and snarls ‘READ ME!’. Unable to resist a snarling book, I thought I’ll just take a glimpse at the first page. Well that was it. I didn’t put it down until my eyes had raced through the pages, reading faster and faster all the way to the shocking conclusion.

This is a fantastic book for reluctant boy readers of all ages from about 8 to 18! (Though younger readers with a tendancy towards nightmares should beware!) The language is straight-forward, (as you would expect with a dyslexia friendly sticker on the cover) but there is no dumbing down of story, action or content. It is a gripping and graphic story of a boy’s first agonising transformation into a werewolf: blood, tooth and nail.

In a word, this book is superb! Its gone straight to the top of my recommend list for reluctant boy readers and would make a superb class reader for looking at the use of senses in creative writing. Tommy nails every sensory change of the boy as each new stage of the boy’s transformation takes place. It’s a fantastic example of how to use simple language to show a story with clarity and a power-packed punch that will leave you feeling as if you’re the one who just sprouted fur, claws and fangs! Every school should get a copy or two … and I’ll be telling as many teachers as I can to do just that.

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