cover image Wonderfully Wild: Rewilding a School and Community

Wonderfully Wild: Rewilding a School and Community

Jessica Stremer, illus. by Josée Masse. Beach Lane, $19.99 (48p) ISBN 978-1-66595-816-5

Stremer inspires with this uplifting, based-on-true-events story of a school community that enacts a “wonderfully wild,” plan to resurrect a beloved schoolyard willow—“a gathering place, a run-laps-around place, a dream-under place.” After a lightning strike fells the tree, the students are heartbroken, until one has the idea to grow new willows from scavenged clippings. Polished prose tracks the group’s efforts as the little trees sprout and are planted around town. Meanwhile, the group undertakes a larger schoolyard rewilding campaign, adding a pollinator garden and hotel, compost bin, birdhouses, bat boxes, and the like. With delicate coloring, attention to critterly detail, and plant-oriented patterns, simple digital renderings capture the gladdening magic of group efforts—and greenery. Characters are portrayed with various abilities and skin tones. Back matter includes more about rewilding. Ages 4–8. (May)