Wild One

Written by Jane Whittingham

Illustrated by Noel Tuazon

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-036-9

24 pp.

Ages 2-5

November, 2017

From morning to bedtime, this little girl is go, go, go!  She's not just a wild thing, she's the Wild One!

From Wild One 

by Jane Whittingham 

illus. by Noel Tuazon

The story of Wild One is told as a series of daily activities: going to the park, playing with friends, climbing monkey bars, swimming, running, eating and preparing for bed. On each page, front and back, the young girl is doing something that is then compared to an action of an animal on the opposite side of the page.  She stretches like a cat, hangs from the monkey bars like a bat, swims like a guppy but trudges home, reluctantly, like a snail.  Regardless of the animals she emulates during the day and evening, she is her parents' wild one to whom they affectionately say goodnight in the final illustration.

From Wild One 

by Jane Whittingham

 illus. by Noel Tuazon

Wild One is Jane Whittingham's first picture book and it's a charming recount of a child's day filled with play and activity. Kids love pretending that they are animals–how often do they imagine themselves to be bears growling or dogs barking or snakes slithering?–but here Jane Whittingham demonstrates, playfully, that we belong in the animal kingdom, sharing many attributes with animals far and wide.  (I know Wild One is not a commentary on animal classification or our position within it, but I think a wise teacher would find a way to incorporate Wild One into a great lesson about the characteristics of living things.)

Toronto artist Noel Tuazon may be a name unfamiliar to me but he has several books under his illustrating belt including picture books and graphic novels and does art for magazines, comics and Nelvana Studios.  His style here is appropriately light, subtle and simple, as complements the story of a preschooler's life.  The detail is unnecessary as the pairing of an activity with an animal is all that is needed, especially for the very young for whom this book is written. (Pajama Press' soft padded cover with rounded corners is perfect for them and those fortunate enough to hold it,)  It is only in the final illustration of the child sleeping in her room that we see the mayhem of a day well lived.

From Wild One 

by Jane Whittingham 

illus. by Noel Tuazon

Wild One may be about the little girl being one but the last words belong to the child's parents who bid her goodnight in a rhyme that resonates like a lullaby. After all, she is their wild one and loved no matter whether a cat, a bear or a snail.



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Check out tomorrow's post about the book launch for Wild One in Vancouver on November 4, 2017.