1. Animals
2. Anxiety
3. Emotions
4. Family
5. Fear
6. Isolation
7. Literary techniques
8. Perspectives
9. Photorealism
10. Time
11. Visual literacy

What or who is the wolf, and why is it here? Night after night the family could hear it prowling and howling outside. Their lives changed, no longer could they play outside, or walk to school, and the windows are boarded up. They are scared, unsure and just want their old lives back.

The writing is simple, unadorned, almost matter of fact but there is an overpowering sense of this ever-present menace. Right from the front cover illustration, Jane Tanner’s artwork in tones of blue, grey, and brown creates a sombre and suspenseful atmosphere. The illustrations are placed on the opposing page to the text and are framed with a buff-coloured surround that feeds into the sense of being caged or locked up. The use of different cinema graphic style perspectives emphasises the gothic nature of the tale. The gripping portraits of the children clearly show the insidious power fear that has in their faces and eyes and this terror seems never-ending. The reader is aware of time passing through the mention of birthdays and by the images of leaves scattered throughout the book and the endpapers depicting the change of seasons.

‘The Wolf’ is a modern gothic tale about confronting fear. It is allegorical and the wolf is a symbol but of what? Fear can have many faces and many names. ‘The Wolf’ was one of the first picture books for older readers published in Australia. Its use of visual symbols and metaphors make it a valuable tool for demonstrating visual literacy and understanding literary techniques.

It was the 1992 winner of the Human Rights Awards – for Children’s Literature and was shortlisted in the Younger Readers category for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards.

1. Publisher’s Weekly Review of ‘The Wolf’ by Margaret Barbalet https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-02-711840-7
2. Kirkus Reviews 1 March 1992 Review of ‘The Wolf’ by Margaret Barbalet https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/margaret-barbalet/the-wolf/
3. Research Gate. Maureen Walsh Australian Catholic University ‘Reading visual and multimodal texts: how is ‘reading’ is different? (Contains extended discussion of book’s jacket cover illustration; scroll down to download the complete article) https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Front-cover-from-The-Wolf-1991-Written-by-Margaret-Barbalet-illustrated-by-Jane_fig1_266184461
4. The Australian Women’s Register ‘Margaret Barbalet’ http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/AWE2110b.htm
5. Jane Tanner website ‘The Wolf’ https://www.janetanner.com.au/work/thewolf