I am a child,
the very last child,
The very last child
left in the wild.
Who is my father? Wind and sun
And lightening fire and thundergun.
The title of this book by Jeanne Willis and illustrator Lorna Freytag might lure you into thinking that this child really is wild and that she does brave things. Instead, it tells the story of a child who enjoys the freedom of the wild forest. It is a lyrical and expressive book and the illustration by photographer Lorna Freytag takes us to rich landscapes and forests.
The wild child is hiding from the grown-ups who have caught all the other wild children and put them in ‘zoos’ where ‘they make them do sums and wear sensible shoes’. The wild child explores the forest with wolves, she swims with fish, and she sleeps on a bear’s back. A nice wild child who sits on the crescent moon instead of swinging from it. It is a magical prehistoric world and the idea is to release the wild child in children. Feel the wind in the hair and unleash the wild child in YOU!