Wild: An uplifting celebration of wildness

Wild is a heart warming story about nature and wilderness and the importance of this for the human soul. This is a personal reflection of how the wild makes the little girl in story feel alive, how she sees the beauty in everything; the shapes in the clouds and secrets in the stars. But one day she moves to the city. Gone is the lush wonder of the natural world and instead she is surrounded by tall, oppressive concrete buildings. Her heart is empty, her soul weighted down. Until she starts to look and really see and soon the natural world reveals itself once more to her.

Balen's simple yet poetic text coupled with Gill Smith's fluid illustrations bring the wonder of nature alive on the pages and makes the reader appreciate the importance of the natural world and its preservation. A superb book to compliment any science lesson in a Keystage 1 class (ages 5-7).

Picture book / Reviewed by Louise Gahan, teacher

Suggested Reading Age 5+