Finding Wild

The wild world can be found close by, even in the city.

A light-skinned child with dark braids and another with blond hair venture into a green space near a subway entrance. The path through dense foliage leads to mountains and lakes, a winter landscape, a meadow in bloom, a rocky shore above blue water for swimming. Lloyd’s poetic, philosophical text poses and answers a question: “What is wild?” The answer, unrelated to Sendak’s dancing monsters, stays within the context of Earth, nature, and weather. Halpin’s digitally finished watercolor-and–colored-pencil drawings offer delicate leafy landscapes and bright flowers as well as evocative scenes of night and stormy skies. The author suggests ways that the wild world can be experienced. “Wild is full of smells—fresh mint, ancient cave….” It can be felt: “wild is forest-fire hot and icicle cold”; and it can be sweet: “honey from bees…and juice-bursting blackberries.” It makes noise: “it storm-thunders and wind-whispers.” When the children emerge from their adventure, the text carries a lament for the difficulty of finding “wild” in a place that is “clean and paved, ordered and tidy / …[with] streets and cars and buildings so high, they hide the sky.”

Lloyd's sparkling debut celebrates nature through a whimsical meditation on the idea of wildness. After entering a verdant city park, a boy and girl become immersed in the sights, sounds, smells, and feel of their surroundings, which spring to life in Halpin's (Bella's Rules) lush and delicately detailed mixed-media pictures. Dominated by muted greens and blues, the illustrations pull readers into the diverse landscapes the children traverse as Lloyd's punchy text highlights nature's expansiveness: snakes and a spider lurk overhead as "Wild creeps and crawls and slithers," while a seaside jaunt brings comfort and joy ("But wild can also soothe: gentle breeze, cheering sun, soft rain"). A brief interlude returns the kids to the dense city, where buildings are "so high, they hide the sky," but a blowing leaf leads them back to the wild once again. A spirit of adventure and exploration runs throughout the book, the absence of parents or other adults tempting readers to discover the wild in their own environments. Ages 3-7. Author's agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. Illustrator's agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. (May)

K-Gr 2--Inspiring children to claim the "wild" where they can find it, this notable debut is a paean to the beauty, fun, and relevance of the natural world. Emerging from the subway, two children travel through fields, forests, mountains, and meadows, exploring the many pleasures to be found outdoors. Evocative language encourages the use of all five senses when journeying through the landscape. "Wild is full of smells--fresh mint, ancient cave, sun-baked desert, sharp pine, salt sea. Every scent begging you to drink it in." City dwellers are emboldened to seek out and investigate nature hiding amid the buildings and streets, as the children return home and discover an urban oasis. Multitextured digitally finished watercolor and pencil illustrations portray the varieties of nature, from a tiny sprout and shiny spiderweb to a lakeside trail and a pack of baying wolves. Colorful spreads provide space to feel the grandeur of the environment. VERDICT In an age when children spend less and less time outside, this ode to the wonder of the natural world is a step in the right direction. Perfect for a city-critters or nature unit.--Teri Markson, Los Angeles Public Library