Wild

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What is the best smell? What is the best taste? What is the best colour? What is the best thing you have seen? What was the most fun activity? Who was the best person? What was the best sound? What it the best song? What was the best thing to feel? When did you feel the best?

Her work is awash with colour, atmosphere, and a stunning visual splendour that will enchant children while indulging their wilder tendencies. Wild is a twenty-first-century answer to Maurice Sendak's children's classic--it has the same inventiveness, groundbreaking art, and unmissable quirkiness. Are you missing the outdoors? Bursting to go outside? Then come join the creator of the book Wild, Emily Hughes and the little girl who has known nothing but nature from birth. The primary age range varies from one education system to another, with some children beginning at age five in some countries and at age seven in others, and some children finishing at age 10/11 in some countries and at age 13/14 in others. The average age is 6–11 years. Oh, they’ll tag this as an eco-centric morality tale, I’m sure. Wild/nature = good, civilization/standardization = bad. That sort of thing. Honestly, I think it has a lot more to say about the inner life of a young child than any overt messagey message about Mother Earth. But there aren’t any rules governing how you use a book, so go on! Use it to talk to kids about nature and the outdoors. Use it to talk about acceptable and non-acceptable behavior and when those rules break down. Use it to discuss tropes most common in European vs. American books, or what makes this book a stand out in its field. Talk about it any old way you like, but make sure you talk about it. A surprisingly lovely little piece that bears similarities to hundreds of pictures books out there, but isn’t really like a single one. One of a kind.

The Secret Sky Garden

Find a way to express all these happy things! You could make a big display with words, drawing and attach other 'best' things. Maybe you could make up a song or dance. Why not talk to the people around you and find out their best bits and tell them yours. It might end up being the best part of your day! In this beautiful picture book by Hawaiian artist Emily Hughes, we meet a little girl who has known nothing but nature from birth—she was taught to talk by birds, to eat by bears, and to play by foxes. She is unashamedly, irrefutably, irrepressibly wild. That is, until she is snared by some very strange animals that look oddly like her, but they don't talk right, eat right, or play correctly. She's puzzled by their behavior and their insistence on living in these strange concrete structures: there's no green here, no animals, no trees, no rivers. Now she lives in the comfort of civilization. But will civilization get comfortable with her? One day, two creatures who look an awful lot like her, only bigger, appear out of nowhere, put her in the belly of their metal beast, and hurl her into a wholly different new life — a civilized one. This unnamed girl lives outdoors and has been raised by the forest community: crows who talk and squabble with her, bears who teach her how to fish for her supper, and foxes who nip, play and encourage her strength. There are no other requirements to live this lifestyle; she can communicate, empathise and understand this hodgepodge family, and she lives a life that is unclouded and understood. In this beautiful picture book by Hawaiian artist Emily Hughes, we meet a little girl who has known nothing but nature from birth--she was taught to talk by birds, to eat by bears, and to play by foxes. She is unashamedly, irrefutably, irrepressibly wild. That is, until she is snared by some very strange animals that look oddly like her, but they don't talk right, eat right, or play correctly.

With that agreed thought, two humans begin the daunting task of ‘curing’ her. Her hair is brushed, she must learn to speak properly, to use a fork neatly, to listen to and obey all of these important rules that have absolutely no importance, sense or use to her. Once you have read something you should talk about it! Find someone to talk to about what happened in the story and maybe answer these questions:

The little girl had friends around her in the forest who helped her be herself. Who are your friends that help you be yourself? Make something that shows how your friends help you. That is, until she is snared by some very strange animals that look oddly like her, but they don’t talk right, eat right, or play correctly. She’s puzzled by their behaviour and their insistence to live in these strange concrete structures known as ‘apartments’. There’s no green here, no animals, no trees, no rivers. Now she lives in the comfort of civilisation. But will civilisation get comfortable with her? In Emily Hughes’ beautiful picture book we meet a little girl who has known nothing but nature from birth – she was taught to talk by birds, to eat by bears and to play by foxes – she is unashamedly, irrefutably, irrepressibly wild.

Make three guides. They could be leaflets or storyboards or posters, whatever you like, teaching people how to be three things: how to be wild, how to be not wild, and how to be you. Wild is a 21st century response to Maurice Sendak’s children’s classic, Where the Wild Things Are. Awash with colour and full of atmosphere, it offers visual treats to enchant children and indulge their wilder tendencies. This is a story of nature versus nurture, which can be used to support personal, social and emotional development. The story sparks lots of book talk opportunities and raises many thought-provoking questions from children.Off in the big city, a somewhat well-meaning but rather dictatorial elderly couple sets out to de-wild her. “FAMED PSYCHIATRIST TAKES IN FERAL CHILD,” a newspaper headline proclaims. The story opens with a joyful and carefree little girl native to the woods, raised by the creatures of the whole forest. She is boundlessly, ebulliently wild, and wholly unashamed of her wildness. Emily Hughes is an author and illustrator who grew up in Hawaii, and now lives and works in the United Kingdom. Her artwork has been widely exhibited and her picturebooks have received international recognition. In 2015, Emily was chosen to represent the UK in the prestigious Biennial of Illustration Bratislava (BIB). Wild is the story of a little girl who was born into nature and has absorbed everything it has to offer. She plays with bears and foxes, eats among them and speaks with the birds of the forest. One day, she meets another form of creature who looks exactly like her. She leaves her home and despite being expected to adapt to her new reality, she craves the environment she knows best.