Wild Dogs: Past & Present

by Kelly Milner Halls

From prehistoric times to modern days, dogs have roamed the earth. The most common wild dog is the wolf--which is also the genetic ancestor of every kind of breed of man's best friend, the domesticated dog. Wild dogs live all over the world, from the dingoes of the outback to the jackals of Africa and the Middle East to the bush dogs of South America. Find out about their habits, their habitats, and some myths and legends about these sometimes endangered animals.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Picture Books

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Kelly Milner Halls specializes in high interest, well researched nonfiction for young readers. Her books include TALES OF THE CRYPTIDS, SAVING THE BAGHDAD ZOO, IN SEARCH OF SASQUATCH and ALIEN INVESTIGATION. But she is also an avid YA fan and loves realistic fiction including GIRL MEETS BOY, the anthology she edited for Chronicle (January 2012). Her first short story is in that anthology. She hopes it won't be her last. When she's not writing or doing school visits, she works for her friend and mentor Chris Crutcher in Spokane.

Reviews

[James Biser · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good introduction to the world of the canines. The dogs are a group of mammals that are remarkable for their characteristics that have caused them to survive successfully. This book teaches the readers about several groups of dogs such as foxes, wolves, and even the unusual groups such as dingos, the maned wolf and the African wild dogs.

[Mallori Allphin]

Kelly Milner Halls is the author of a book targeted for intermediate readers called “Wild Dogs: Past and Present”. Milner Halls is known to create short and informational books for younger readers. She is known for her quirky but well researched topics and takes pride in drawing reluctant readers to her books through exciting methods. “Wild Dogs: Past and Present” is a well-organized book that tells how fossils and DNA is used to explain the evolutionary between prehistoric dogs and the ones that we see today. Milner Halls explains some traits that are key in a dog’s success and why some breeds did not live today and why some are able to create viable and successful offspring. She uses several large and scientific words but does a great job to explain the meaning of them to her young readers. There are also several helpful visuals throughout the book, such as informative captions, charts, sidebars, and some maps. Milner Halls travels back several years and takes the reader to each continent and explains the different breeds that originated on each and the current and successful dog breeds. She also does a great job of providing background for the dogs. She explains the different folklores that follow each dog breed and what the culture see’s as significant about certain wild dog breeds. Milner Halls focuses largely on conservation and creates an explanation of how an environment can change depending on the species present. This book portrays all aspects of a quality informational book. The reader will stay interested through her unique way of writing and the informative illustrations.

[Lindsey]

Wild dogs: past and present is a nonfiction informational book and is an honor book for the Orbis Pictus award. Wild dogs: past and present informs readers about wild dogs. Throughout the book readers can read about the history of wild dogs. Readers can also choose their favorite geographical region and learn about what dogs are in that region. For example, readers can learn about dogs from North America, Europe and Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Australia, and South and Central America. The texts brings up interesting facts about dogs and there are large, realistic pictures to reinforce the text. Past and present pictures are provided to show readers the difference between dogs of the past and dogs that can be seen today. There are also multiple graphs, tables, and charts, including the diagram of the entire kingdom and phylum of dogs. Readers can learn a lot of information from Wild dogs: past and present. I would use this book in my classroom because it has very interesting and valuable information in it. I would only introduce parts of this book at a time to my students because it would get very lengthy otherwise and students would begin to lose interest and attention. The text is broken up easily enough to only introduce certain parts at a time and would be very valuable and reliable information regarding dogs.

[Carlos Gastelum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Halls, K., M. (2005) Wild dogs: past & present. New York, NY: Darby Creek Publishing.

Wild Dogs: Past and Present is a great book packed with useful information about the behavior, characteristics, life and endangered wild dogs remaining on earth. This book provides facts on each of these topics and discusses how wild dogs are the ancestors of modern pets found today. For example the text covers the coyote and red wolf which are found around North America. This book is great for young children who love animals and want to learn more about them and where they can be found. The photos used in the book are colorful and do a great job of showing how realistic and scary some of these animals really are. Halls, even includes maps that take readers from continent to continent as they discover a variety of wolf like species. I could incorporate this book in my classroom by allowing students to research and gather information on their favorite animal. Once they have completed this part, they will create a poster and provide interesting facts on the animal they chose.

[John Gainey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mans best friend takes more than a handshake. Reads this for yourself.
Foxes, Jackals, Coyotes, Oh my! Foxes, Jackals, Coyotes, Oh my!