The Wild Girl - Softcover

Chris Wormell is a self-taught artist, and the winner of the Booktrust Early Years Best Picture Award 2010 for One Smart Fish. Two Frogs won the Nestle Bronze Award in 2003 and Molly and the Night Monster was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2009. His books include George and the Dragon and The Big Ugly Monster and the Little Stone Rabbit which was adapted into a stage play. In addition to his children's books, Chris undertakes other illustration work including advertising campaigns, packaging, a set of Royal Mail stamps and a collection of four covers for the same issue of Time Out magazine, featuring traditional British pub signs. Chris lives in North London with his wife and children.

PreSchool-Grade 1–A barefoot girl, dressed in an animal skin, lives in the wilderness with only her small brown dog for companionship. They share their food–fish, nuts, berries, and even insects–as well as their cave. In summer, they sleep outdoors and in winter, they huddle together in the warmth of their cavern. Searching for firewood one snowy day, the girl notices large footprints leading up to and away from the cave as if an animal were scouting the area for shelter. That night, a huge brown bear attempts to enter the den. With shouts, barks, and snowballs, the girl and her dog send the beast scurrying. It's only when a tiny bear appears from the shadows of the cave that the girl realizes that she has separated a mother from her cub. So, she and her two furry companions search for the mother bear and eventually find her sitting at the mouth of the cave, awaiting their return. They all find refuge and warmth as the girl opens her heart and her home to the animals. The isolation of the child and her pet is palpable in the wide expanse of the jagged purple, cream, and brown mountain range in which they live. This is an affecting story of friendship and survival. Read it along with James Mayhew's Boy (Scholastic, 2004) for another tale about a cave child.–Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI
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