The Boy Who Ran With the Gazelles

by Marianna Mayer, Leonid Gore (Illustrator)

Based on true occurrences of children raised by and living with wild animals, this riveting tale will inspire reader to think about the remarkable generosity of animals. Full color.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published July 7, 2005

About the author

Marianna Mayer is a children's book author and artist recognized for her beautifully written retellings of classic folk and fairy tales. Born in New York City, she began her artistic training early and studied at the Art Students League after a year of college. Her first book was published at the age of nineteen. Mayer has authored several acclaimed works, including Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave, Pegasus, and The Twelve Dancing Princesses, often collaborating with renowned illustrators such as Kinuko Y. Craft and Michael Hague. She was previously married to illustrator Mercer Mayer.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

An original picture book about a young boy who is adopted and raised by a herd of gazelles, and cannot adapt to human life when he is captured by hunters. An intriguing examination of the importance and limitations of human socialization, as well as the nature of freedom and community, The Boy Who Ran With the Gazelles owes much of its appeal to the human fascination with feral children.

Recorded throughout history, such children also feature in numerous folk traditions, most notably the Roman foundational myth of Romulus and Remus, suckled by the she-wolf. Mayer's title reminds me in many ways of Mordicai Gerstein's The Wild Boy , a picture book about the 'Savage of Aveyron,' a feral boy captured in the mountains of southern France in 1800. Both stories feature young boys captured in the wild, who cannot be successfully socialized after their long absence from humanity. Mayer has the benefit of writing fiction however, and can consequently provide an unexpected (but welcome) happy ending.

-Other titles to consider in this vein: Gerstein's novel Victor , also about the 'Savage of Aveyron,' and Jane Yolen's Children of the Wolf , about two young girls raised by wolves in the forests of 1920s India.

[Asho · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was mixed in with all of the books I use for work, but since I only had one copy of it I decided to give it to my 5-year-old. After reading it, I can see why it was never bought in bulk for work. The text is just a bit too long. It worked well as a one-on-one read aloud, though. My son was pretty fascinated by the concept of the feral boy who grew up in the wild with the gazelles, and was especially interested when I gave him an age-appropriate summary of the final page that talks about various instances of feral children. He didn't understand why the boy wouldn't just put on the clothes he was given and start acting like a regular human after his capture, so I think this is still slightly over his head. Overall, though, he liked it more than I expected him to, and I thought the illustrations were unusual and pretty.

ETA January 2020: After that one reading with S none of the kids have shown interest in this ever again, so it went into our pile of books to be swapped at little free libraries.

[Kell* · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book that relates to true stories about children raised in the wild by various animals. The illustrations are beautiful and it brings a new meaning to family, freedom and overcoming struggle.

[Sandee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Toddler loved, LOVED this book, to my surprise. I had to edit a lot of the storyline to match his attention span but that was a cool find.

[♠ TABI⁷ ♠ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this story, very beautiful and the illustrations were amazing and went perfectly with the story.