Intrepid readers are invited on a field trip into the wild to discover whether wolves are as big and as bad as we think they are.

For many people, wolves are the stuff of nightmares and horror films, but the reality is that they’re among some of the most vulnerable wild animals on our planet.

By following field guide Huw Lewis Jones and nature illustrator Sam Caldwell into the wild, readers will meet subspecies of grey wolf living in forests throughout Europe, North America and China, as well as red wolves in North Carolina and other members of the canid family, including coyotes. Along the way, aspiring naturalists will discover the difference between a ‘timber’ and a ‘tundra’ wolf, what traits wild wolves share with domestic dogs, and why wolf poo is so important to scientists!

Through entertaining and informative text and expressive illustrations, Are Wolves Afraid of the Dark? challenges the stereotype of the ‘big, bad wolf’, passed down to us through fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood, and shows that wolves are intelligent, sensitive creatures with far more to fear from us than we have from them!