8 /10 1 Votes8
Language English Pages 130 OCLC 49558730 Originally published 21 October 2002 Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | 4/5 Goodreads Publication date October 21, 2002 ISBN 978-0-618-21261-3 LC Class PZ10.3.B317 Ru 2002 Page count 130 Country United States of America | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Marion Dane Bauer books, Other books |
Runt is a 2002 children's novel written by Marion Dane Bauer. It tells of a story about a wolf pup who is a runt.
Contents
Summary
One spring day in the forests of Minnesota, a litter of 4 is born into a wolf pack led by King and his mate Silver. The pups are Leader, Sniffer, Runner, and Thinker.
The last pup looks much smaller than the others and his father gives him the name Runt. As Runt grows older, he still is smaller than the others but grows over time. At one point in Runt's life, he and Thinker leave the pack, and they mess with a porcupine who attacks them with quills. Runt is hit all over, and Thinker gets hit in the eye. They get back to the pack, but Thinker soon dies. King was so angry and sad. Runt thought he would be renamed twice; once he imagined the name "Brave One" when he howled at the humans, and another he thought he would be "Provider" when he brings back the tail of a cow. In the end he is named "Singer" for all the times he sang when he was happy, lonely or sad.
Characters
Reception
Publishers Weekly described the book as a "tightly plotted, swiftly paced tale", while the School Library Journal called it "[b]eautifully written". In a starred review, Booklist said it was a "compelling, poignant story" and that "Bauer precisely and vividly conveys the wolves' wild world". Runt is born in a wolf pack in Minnesota forest where only the strong animals survive in.