Wolfstongue

by Sam Thompson, Anna Tromop (Illustrator)

Overview

2023 USBBY Outstanding International Books

"As in George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” the dynamics of oppression and resistance that play out between animals mirror those between humans." The New York Times
"The best animal adventure since Watership Down" — The Times (The Times Children's Book of the Week, July 3rd 2021
"Gripping and profound" — New Statesman
"A hugely original tale" — The Irish Times
"A thrilling adventure" — Meg Rosoff,author of How I Live Now

The children's debut by Booker-longlisted author Sam Thompson is an engrossing, thoughtful, beautifully written story about humans and animals, voice and power, neurodiversity and acceptance.

Inspired by his own experience of having a son with speech difficulties, Wolfstongue is Sam Thompson's first novel for children.

Silas is a young boy who is bullied at school because his words will not come. He wishes he could live in silence as animals do. Deep in the Forest, the foxes live in an underground city built by their wolf slaves. The foxes' leader Reynard controls everything with his clever talk. One day, Silas helps an injured wolf. Then he enters the secret world of the Forest, where the last remaining wolves fight to survive. But even there, language is power. Can Silas find his voice in time to help his wolf friends – can he become the Wolfstongue?

A The Times children's book of the week in 2021

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781915071002
Publisher:	Little Island Books
Publication date:	08/30/2022
Series:	Wolfstongue , #1
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Sam lives in Belfast, where he teaches English and creative writing at Queens University. His first novel, Communion Town, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. His fiction and criticism have appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, London Review of Books, on BBC Radio 4 and in Best British Short Stories 2019 (Salt Publishing).

Anna Tromop is a Norwegian illustrator who lives in Hanoi, Vietnam. She completed her MA in Children's Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art in 2019.

Read an Excerpt

EXTRACT FROM CHAPTER 1

There was a wolf on the cycle path.
Silas walked along the path every day after school. It ran beside a patch of woodland. It was not the fastest way home, but Silas used it because he liked being by himself, and the cycle path was always empty.
Until today. The wolf stood in the middle of the path, watching him. Its head was as high as his chest. He had never been so close to such a large wild animal.
He did not know what to do. He had seen wolves in a wildlife park once: they had been pale, silent shapes slipping between the trees, too far away to seem dangerous or even quite real. But this wolf was real. He could hear it panting. He could see its wet red tongue and its long white teeth. At the sight, a chill crawled all the way from his shoulders to the base of his spine, and gooseflesh tingled on his arms. His heart beat hard in his chest.
He told himself he ought to back away carefully. He ought to run. But if I run, he thought, the wolf might chase me. Maybe I should flap my arms and shout so that it goes away. Wild animals are usually nervous of people, aren’t they? But the wolf did not look nervous. It looked hungry. Its grey eyes were fixed on Silas, just waiting for him to start running. The narrow path was like a trap, with a brick wall on one side and a wire fence on the other.
He held his breath. He kept very still. And then the wolf took a step forwards.
Silas nearly ran. He nearly cried out in fright and fell over backwards. But he did not do this, not quite, because he had noticed something. The wolf was walking oddly. It was limping, barely touching the ground with one of its front paws. When it was almost within reach, it held up the paw as if it wanted to shake hands.
Silas knelt down beside the wolf. The paw was larger than both his hands together. It had thick grey fur, hard black claws and big rough pads. The smell was strong, but not bad: it was earthy and musky, and it reminded Silas of something. For a moment he could not tell what, but then he knew. The wolf smelled like the scent that rises from dry ground at the end of a hot day when the rain begins to fall.
He moved the pads apart and the wolf growled softly in its throat. Silas let go in a hurry, but the wolf whined and offered him the paw again. Being as slow and gentle as he could, he grasped the paw and tried to see what the matter was. Yes, he thought, something was lodged there. A metallic glint deep between the pads. The wolf gave a snarl as he eased the paw open, but it let him coax the object free. It was an old brass drawing pin, battered and bloody. It must have been digging into the paw at every step.
The wolf circled away and took a few steps along the path, no longer limping.
Then all at once it was alert, lifting its head and swivelling its ears as if it sensed danger. It prowled along the fence until it came to a place where the wire was torn at the bottom, making an entrance into the woodland. The grey eyes locked with Silas’s eyes for a moment, and the wolf wriggled through the hole.
The patch of woodland had perhaps twenty trees, with the backs of houses showing through the branches. There was nowhere for a large animal to go. But as Silas watched, the wolf crouched in the undergrowth and disappeared from view.
Silas stood at the fence, wondering if anything else was going to happen. But there was no movement among the trees. It was as if the wolf had never been there. That must be the end, he thought. It had been a brief, strange meeting and now it was time for him to go home.
Then he heard a voice behind him.
‘Good afternoon,’ it said. ‘This is a fortunate meeting.’
A fox was sitting on the path: a neat creature with a sharp face and dark red fur. It gazed up at him. Beside it sat a second fox, larger and paler, with green eyes set close together. As Silas watched, more foxes appeared on the path behind the small dark fox and the large pale one. Soon there were twenty foxes sitting and looking at him.
The dark fox spoke.

Editorial Reviews

'Thompson's writing vividly conveys the force with which nature and wildness strike an introverted city boy.' –  The New York Times Book Review

'Sober, stirring fantasy.' The Wall Street Journal

‘Has all the makings of a modern classic with its exhilarating mix of ancient fable and contemporary issues. … Not since Watership Down have animal dynamics felt so true and the political undertones so live. … I predict howls of approval — and prizes.’ – The Times

 ‘Gripping and profound.’ – The New Statesman 

 ‘Wolfstongue is a hugely original tale with classic influences and infrastructure.’ – The Irish Times

 ‘A startling entrance into children’s fiction.’ – The Echo

 ‘A stunning fantasy adventure.’ – Mayo News

 ‘One of the most extraordinary children’s books I’ve ever read.’ –Anthony McGowan, author of The Fall

 ‘An unforgettable fable. Raw, devastating and brilliantly written.’ – Lucy Strange, author of The Ghost of Midnight Lake

 ‘An edge-of-the-seat adventure.’ – Meg Rosoff, author of How I Live Now

‘Wolfstongue has classic written all over it.’ – Patricia Forde, author of The List

 ‘Thompson is a superb writer. There is a dreamlike quality to his prose.’ –  Literary Review 

 ‘Every now and again, a remarkable new children’s book comes along which is a pleasure to read, isn’t too long, and is filled with a sense of profound meaning and significance without ever feeling preachy. Wolfstongue is precisely this.’ – BookTrust

 ‘Brilliantly compelling whilst at the same time making profound comments about the way language and expression help to define us and, when limited, can equally confine us, really powerful.’ –  Youth Libraries Group

 ‘This heart felt and exciting adventure has plenty to interest and reflect on.’ – Readers that Care

 ‘This is a wonderful story that will have you on the edge of your seat.’ – Addicted to Books 

 ‘Children – and adults! – everywhere will certainly find comfort and magic within Wolfstongue’s pages.’ – Buzz Magazine 

 ‘Lyrical, fierce, thoughtful, brave, emotional…a story of facing your fears and finding your voice. What a stunning book!’ – Fallen Star Stories

 ‘This is a wonderful book, it is heart warming, and full of adventure.’ – Bookbound

 ‘Wolfstongue is an absorbing read and perfect for fans of the natural world, intrigue and adventure.’ This Book is Brilliant! 

 ‘A powerful story about standing up to bullies, doing what’s right and the power of language, this is a lyrical, beautiful children’s-book debut.’ – What I Read 

 ‘Heady, lyrical and earthy.’ – Lily and the Fae

From the Publisher

2022-03-29
A boy with speech difficulties discovers that he can talk to animals.

Sometimes, no matter how hard Silas tries to speak, the words won’t come. At school, bullies call him names like Silence. And he can’t tell a teacher—or even his parents, for fear of disappointing them. But when he meets Reynard, a cunning fox, and Isengrim and Hersent, a wolf couple, speaking up becomes a matter of life and death. In a magical parallel world, foxes—troublingly emulating humans—enslaved wolves and worked them to near extinction in order to construct their habitat, a city they called Earth. After escaping captivity, Isengrim and Hersent are the only wolves left. When Reynard kidnaps their pups, intending to breed a new race of slaves, Isengrim and Hersent need Silas to be their Wolfstongue, a human who speaks for them, if they are to have any hope of rescue. But can Silas find the words? Drawing on characters from medieval European fables, Thompson thoughtfully examines how words can hurt and heal, emphasizing language’s powerful influence on characters’ self-perception. Silas’ speech difficulty is unnamed, enabling readers with a variety of similar conditions to see themselves reflected. Secondary characters, including an arrogant cat who banters with a snarky raven, add humor. Though somewhat abrupt, the ending realistically avoids a pat resolution to Silas’ troubles. Tromop’s realistic black-and-white illustrations accentuate the grim, mysterious atmosphere. Human characters default to White.

Unusual and thought-provoking. (map, author interview) (Fantasy. 8-11)

Kirkus Reviews