3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Fabulous Tale of Compassion, October 27, 2006
This review is from: The Wild Girl (Hardcover)
This is a really sweet tale of a young girl in the wilds of the world. With her little dog in tow, she comes upon a creature of the unknown and mistakenly bases her actions on fear and prejudice. Compassion wins the day and our small warrior comes to a greater understanding of the world and herself. This tale also touches on the values of individuality and the need for interdependence.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bear necessities, December 11, 2006
Chris Wormell books aren't flashy and extravagant. They don't bop you over the head with shiny foil or cartoonish glee or wild dance sequences. As a children's librarian it was with great relief that I discovered that there are as many different kinds of picture books out there as there are works of adult fiction. There is undoubtedly a picture book out there for every kind of child. And let us say that you have a kid that likes the idea of seeing other kids surviving on their own. Maybe they want a Man v. Nature book, but intended for the preschooler set. Robinson Crusoe for toddlers. Pint-sized future "Hatchet" lovers. For such children, Wormell hands us a remarkably satisfying tale of a girl and her dog living in an age that may or may not have yet discovered iron.
Perhaps the book takes place in the past. Perhaps in the far future. Whatever the case, this is the tale of a girl who lives all by herself with her dog. The girl doesn't go to school or wear shoes or have anyone living nearby. And though she and her pup catch fish and pick berries, roots, and bugs for their meals, she's lonely. One day in the snowy winter, the girl and her dog are out collecting firewood when they see tracks that work their way towards their cave. The animal isn't there when they arrive but they arm themselves in case it returns. Return it does. The enormous bear fills the cave entrance but leaves the child and canine almost immediately. It's then that the two realize that they are still not alone. From their little nest at the back of the cave emerges a baby bear cub. Frantically the girl attempts to relocate the mama bear, but must turn for home when she cannot locate her. Fortunately, who should be standing in the cave's entrance than the mother bear. "That winter, the cave high up on the mountainside was the snuggest, warmest place in all the wide wilderness," says the book as all three sleep contentedly together. "But by the spring, they all had fleas."
There's no denying that kids daydream of living in a world without grownups. The girl in this book almost fulfils a kind of ultimate fantasy. She gets to run around all day with her dog doing cool stuff like hunting and making fires. Of course, at the same time she's lonely, and the final image of her tucked snugly within the mama bear's fur (her hair almost one with the animal's thick brown pelt) is a deeply reassuring one. It seems to suggest that the girl has found a mother substitute. Of course, mother bears aren't so acquiescent as to leave their young anywhere near small girls and dogs without a fight. This is hardly a book about real world situations, but the reason why the bear leaves the cave with "strange, sad eyes" in the first place is never adequately explained.
Fortunately, at no point in this book is the art ever static or dull. Though Wormell limits his palette to browns, blue-purples, and the softest cream-colored pages, the images are always moving or filling up their pages with aplomb. When showing the girl going through her normal routine, the action breaks up into small vignettes. And when the girl looks across the valley for any sign of human life, we see sweeping vistas of purple-tipped mountains. Wormell can evoke snug and scary within a series of several frames. The watercolors are delicate and reflect the odd sweet little story perfectly.
It's always fun to try and guess what book might pair the best with a given title. The book I kept coming back to as I read "The Wild Girl" would have to be "Weslandia" by Kevin Hawkes. In both books a child creates their own singular society without parental interference/existence. Of course, this particular book has an appeal entirely of its own. Best read to the child that dreams of freedom and comfort in a single package.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
good, June 13, 2008
This review is from: The Wild Girl (Hardcover)
this story is pretty good. it's a very simple story about a feral child and her adventures... not that many as this is a short book, but it talks about her everyday life to introduce her and then as winter comes she has a run in with a bear. she has a dog with her as her only companion.
the illustrations aren't anything to go crazy over and are almost as simple as the story telling. the simplicity of the art does add to the sort of barrenness of her surrounding though, and emphasizes her aloneness, not as a negative thing, just as the reality.
the reader doesn't really get to know the girl or get a back story to why she lives out in the wilderness, it's more just a story about a day in the eyes or this girl. the story starts off establishing that the girl lives alone in the wild and has to to everything for herself, like get food, so she hunts and cooks with her little dog. then as winter approaches she looks for a cave to live in and finds one, but there are bear tracks leading to and from it. she goes in the cave and a little while later a bear appears at the entrance. the girl blocks the bear's way and it goes away, but then the girl realizes that the bear's cub was in the cave, so she takes the cub and her dog and goes out to look for the bear. they can't find the bear and go back to the cave where they find the bear waiting, and then they all sleep together for the winter. basically. it's nothing scary.
the print is nice and big and there aren't too many words to a page, just enough necessary to get the story across to the reader, so this would probably be a decent book to give to a beginner with some experience.
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