Dear Wild Child
You Carry Your Home Inside You
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
From authors Wallace J. Nichols and Wallace Grayce Nichols and illustrator Drew Beckmeyer, Dear Wild Child is a picture book inspired by a letter from a father to his daughter about wildfire, loss, and learning that we carry our homes inside us wherever we go.
In the shade of ancient redwood trees by a creek not far from the ocean, a father builds a house for his newborn daughter, where she grows up wild and strong in their coastal canyon home. When a wildfire takes back their beloved house, he writes his now-grown daughter a letter telling her it’s gone.
Inspired by the real letter the author wrote his daughter, this poignant story—written together by father and daughter—joyfully declares that a home is more than just wood and stone; it is made of love and can never be taken away. You carry home with you wherever you go.
“The art echoes the text’s emphasis on beauty rather than loss . . . In the event’s aftermath, the affecting story’s tone remains openhearted, concluding with sentiments that encourage resilience and reflect on the nature of home.” —Publishers Weekly
Includes a note from the authors on climate change
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Loosely composed as an address from Wallace J. Nichols to daughter Wallace Grayce Nichols, this nostalgic picture book memorializes the family's idyllic house among the redwoods, lost in a wildfire. Vividly depicted in Beckmeyer's textured scenes of an unbounded childhood, recollections evoke a rustic, "hardwood and stone" abode, filled with "books, guitars, a piano, seashells, feathers, and animals./ And memories." In one emblematic scene, a pale-skinned, blond-haired child appears multiple times: exploring among multicolored flora, jumping into a swimming hole, and carrying a bucket of plums. When "the wildest, most beautiful lightning storm" arrives, igniting a fire, the art echoes the text's emphasis on beauty rather than loss, with a spread of an inky sky lit up with craggy lines. In the event's aftermath, the affecting story's tone remains openhearted, concluding with sentiments that encourage resilience and reflect on the nature of home. An author's note discusses climate change. Ages 4–8.
