Wild

Wild

By Emily Hughes  
Published by Flying Eye Books

I first bought Wild by Emily Hughes nearly two years ago when it was first published in hardback. It was possibly my first ever Flying Eye Books title I'd purchased, and in turn made me fall in love with their reputation to publish picture books that are a little bit different from the norm. Now two years on and a lot of re-reading and drooling over the delectable illustrations, the paperback arrives on my doorstep. And it hasn't lost an ounce of its magic. 

Wild tells the story about a little girl that lives in the woods, brought up by the animals that live there. From birth all she's been taught so far is what the animals in the woods have taught her. Bird taught her to speak. Bear taught her to eat. Fox taught her to play. And this all made her happy, until... she met some new animals in the forest that looked like her.

But the little girl thinks these new animals are strange and they think she's strange too. They did everything wrong. They spoke wrong, they eat wrong and they played wrong. And she wasn't at all happy. So she decides not to stick around, destroying the house and taking the pet cat and dog with her!

I couldn't shake the feeling that the deep down moral for this tale centred around children that may have a bit more 'energy' than that of other children, and that it shouldn't be punished as they can't exactly help it. As well as bringing up how it can be tough for some children to fit in to new environments. All in all a good thing to help parents and children understand each other that little bit more.

I can't recommend this book enough, this is a must by for every bookshelf! It's a simple story that children will love, and Emily's 'wild' illustrations really bring the action to life. Wild is available to buy now in paperback and hardback in all good bookshops and on the Flying Eye Books website.