With her usual skillful technique and loving attention to detail, Brett illustrates a lame, poorly imagined story about how a paleolithic boy (Kip) might have tamed a wolf and named it Dog. Lured by the smell of roast meat, the hungry, full-grown wolf follows the boy--begging for food and warning him of predators, both likely (sabre-toothed ""cat"") and unlikely (mammoth--surely a vegetarian); meanwhile, Kip taunts him. Finally, although this has otherwise been a realistic story, Kip asks the wolf to guard him in exchange for food; we are to believe that a wagging tail signifies acquiescence. Brett's designs may indeed be inspired by surviving cave paintings and artifacts, but her story is too implausible: Kip's teasing presupposes the wolfs friendliness, and the wolf behaves as if he were already tame; moreover, it seems likely that the first wolves to be domesticated were cubs. For an imaginative fantasy about this subject, go back to Kipling's wonderful ""The Cat That Walked by Himself.