Onyx is fun, educational, non-fiction that will inspire kids

Onyx True Stories of Animal Heroes is one of the first releases in a new series on Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, an imprint of Quarto Knows. The book feels old-school, from the cloth-like feel of the front and back cover to its spine that has a different color as if channeling a Golden Book. In reality, Onyx is a refreshing, early elementary read-along book or a middle to upper elementary book that will inspire kids to read more about wolves.

Kids like to read about wolves. They look like dogs, are asocial with lots of school mascots, and have that rogue, free spirit that makes them mysterious. If you’re looking for a deeper dive into wolves and their reintroduction to Yellowstone Park then Bringing Back the Wolves is an excellent place to continue reading. Onyx is a simpler story but has realistic, detailed art that on the excellent level that made Wolves such a treat to read.           

When you read it the first time, the story of Onyx defies what normally happens in the wild. It starts with a simple overview of how Yellowstone’s ecosystem was out of balance when the wolves were either killed or relocated during the western migration. We quickly meet a mother wolf and her cubs. The male wolf is not there, having been taken away by people, an aspect of the story that’s glossed over a bit too quickly.

She’s making the best of things with her pups, but they’re a handful and Onyx is just a bit different. He’s shy, a bit of a loner, and smaller than the others in the litter. The skills that he had weren’t the same as his siblings. When Onyx got slightly older it was time for them to go claim some territory and he was lucky enough to find a young mom who was similar to his mom. She had a litter of pups who were about the age he was when his dad stopped being around.

Onyx stepped up, became a great wolf dad to these cubs but noticed that one of them was just like he was when he was a lad. Bravo was a bit more of an individual, didn’t listen to advice, and so on, but Onyx taught him the way he knew because the two had a lot in common. It soon became Bravo’s time to leave the pack and find his way, which he did.

One day Bravo saw an elderly wolf who was approaching his territory and he raised up his cackles to attack because that’s what wolves do to protect their territory. As Bravo went to the wolf he realized that it was Onyx and the two were a bit confused. Bravo instead, put his nose to the ground and let Onyx pass through the land. This led to a restructuring of sorts where wolves could share space with each other.

That’s the real synopsis of the story. At times it’s an allegory to modern culture, leading cynical readers to substitute names or people in place of certain characters.

Is the story of Onyx true? There’s a page at the back of the book that tells the background on the story. Wolf 8 was portrayed by Onyx and Wolf 21 was played by Bravo. The story happened, as unlikely as it seems to the dog-eat-dog world that we live in. The Yellowstone Wolf Project definitely happened and is worth learning more about. Onyx is a great story and one that kids can learn from. I want to believe it. Those readers aged four through seven will certainly believe it, like the book, and want more stories like it.

Onyx is by Vita Murrow with illustrations by Anneli Bray and on Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, an imprint of Quarto Knows.

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