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The Wild One
Charlie met the wild one when he was young. Together they caught tadpoles, and watched spiders weaving webs. But as the sun rose and fell, and the moon circled the world, Charlie forgot the wild one's magic - until it was almost too late to remember . . .
From acclaimed picture-book partnership Sonya Hartnett and Lucia Masciullo comes a celebration of the wonders of childhood, the beauty of nature and the wild that lives in us all.
From acclaimed picture-book partnership Sonya Hartnett and Lucia Masciullo comes a celebration of the wonders of childhood, the beauty of nature and the wild that lives in us all.
Hardcover
First published September 24, 2014
18 people want to read
About the author
Sonya Hartnett
41 books310 followersSonya Hartnett (also works under the pseudonym Cameron S. Redfern) is, or was, something of an Australian child prodigy author. She wrote her first novel at the age of thirteen, and had it published at fifteen. Her books have also been published in Europe and North America. Her novels have been published traditionally as young adult fiction, but her writing often crosses the divide and is also enjoyed by adults.
"I chose to narrate the story through a child because people like children, they WANT to like them," says Sonya Hartnett of THURSDAY'S CHILD, her brilliantly original coming-of-age story set during the Great Depression. "Harper [the young narrator] is the reason you get sucked into the characters. Even I, who like to distance myself from my characters, felt protective of her."
The acclaimed author of several award-winning young adult novels--the first written when she was just 13--Australian native Sonya Hartnett says she wrote THURSDAY'S CHILD in a mere three months. "It just pulled itself together," she says. "I'd wanted to set a story in the Depression for some time, in an isolated community that was strongly supportive. Once the dual ideas of the boy who tunneled and the young girl as narrator gelled, it almost wrote itself--I had the cast, I had the setting, I just said 'go.' " Accustomed to writing about edgy young adult characters, Sonya Hartnett says that identifying with a seven-year-old protagonist was a challenge at first. "I found her difficult to approach," she admits. "I'm not really used to children. But once I started, I found you could have fun with her: she could tell lies, she could deny the truth." Whereas most children know "only what adults want them to know," the author discovered she could bypass that limitation by "turning Harper into an eavesdropper and giving her older siblings to reveal realities."
In her second book with Candlewick Press, WHAT THE BIRDS SEE, Sonya Hartnett once again creates a portrait of childhood. This time the subject is Adrian, a nine-year-old boy living in the suburbs with his gran and Uncle. For Adrian, childhood is shaped by fear: his dread of quicksand, shopping centers, and self-combustion. Then one day, three neighborhood children vanish--an incident based on a real case in Australia in the 1960s--and Adrian comes to see just how tenuous his safety net is. In speaking about Adrian, the author provocatively reveals parallels between herself and her character. She says, "Adrian is me in many respects, and many of the things that happen to him happened to me."
Sonya Hartnett's consistently inspired writing has built her a legion of devotees. Of THURSDAY'S CHILD, Newbery Honor-winning author Carolyn Coman says, "Hartnett's beautifully rendered vision drew me in from the very start and carried me along, above and under ground, to the very end. This book amazed me." The achingly beautiful WHAT THE BIRDS SEE has just as quickly garnered critical acclaim. Notes PUBLISHERS WEEKLY in a starred review, "Hartnett again captures the ineffable fragility of childhood in this keenly observed tale. . . . Sophisticated readers will appreciate the work's acuity and poetic integrity." Sonya Hartnett's third young adult novel, STRIPES OF THE SIDESTEP WOLF was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults.
Sonya Hartnett lives near Melbourne, Australia. Her most recent novels are SURRENDER, a mesmerizing psychological thriller, and THE SILVER DONKEY, a gently told fable for middle-grade readers.
"I chose to narrate the story through a child because people like children, they WANT to like them," says Sonya Hartnett of THURSDAY'S CHILD, her brilliantly original coming-of-age story set during the Great Depression. "Harper [the young narrator] is the reason you get sucked into the characters. Even I, who like to distance myself from my characters, felt protective of her."
The acclaimed author of several award-winning young adult novels--the first written when she was just 13--Australian native Sonya Hartnett says she wrote THURSDAY'S CHILD in a mere three months. "It just pulled itself together," she says. "I'd wanted to set a story in the Depression for some time, in an isolated community that was strongly supportive. Once the dual ideas of the boy who tunneled and the young girl as narrator gelled, it almost wrote itself--I had the cast, I had the setting, I just said 'go.' " Accustomed to writing about edgy young adult characters, Sonya Hartnett says that identifying with a seven-year-old protagonist was a challenge at first. "I found her difficult to approach," she admits. "I'm not really used to children. But once I started, I found you could have fun with her: she could tell lies, she could deny the truth." Whereas most children know "only what adults want them to know," the author discovered she could bypass that limitation by "turning Harper into an eavesdropper and giving her older siblings to reveal realities."
In her second book with Candlewick Press, WHAT THE BIRDS SEE, Sonya Hartnett once again creates a portrait of childhood. This time the subject is Adrian, a nine-year-old boy living in the suburbs with his gran and Uncle. For Adrian, childhood is shaped by fear: his dread of quicksand, shopping centers, and self-combustion. Then one day, three neighborhood children vanish--an incident based on a real case in Australia in the 1960s--and Adrian comes to see just how tenuous his safety net is. In speaking about Adrian, the author provocatively reveals parallels between herself and her character. She says, "Adrian is me in many respects, and many of the things that happen to him happened to me."
Sonya Hartnett's consistently inspired writing has built her a legion of devotees. Of THURSDAY'S CHILD, Newbery Honor-winning author Carolyn Coman says, "Hartnett's beautifully rendered vision drew me in from the very start and carried me along, above and under ground, to the very end. This book amazed me." The achingly beautiful WHAT THE BIRDS SEE has just as quickly garnered critical acclaim. Notes PUBLISHERS WEEKLY in a starred review, "Hartnett again captures the ineffable fragility of childhood in this keenly observed tale. . . . Sophisticated readers will appreciate the work's acuity and poetic integrity." Sonya Hartnett's third young adult novel, STRIPES OF THE SIDESTEP WOLF was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults.
Sonya Hartnett lives near Melbourne, Australia. Her most recent novels are SURRENDER, a mesmerizing psychological thriller, and THE SILVER DONKEY, a gently told fable for middle-grade readers.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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March 3, 2024Sonya Hartnett!!
January 14, 2015
Charlie met the wild one when he was young. As he grew he moved away from spending time with the wild one, but the memories were always there.
This is an absolutely stunning book, which I’ve wanted to read since it was tweeted about last year. I was lucky enough to find it in my local library before Christmas and my son and I have enjoyed reading it together a few times since then.
The Wild One looks at the role of nature in childhood, how it facilitates play and learning and a sense of wonder. It doesn’t portray nature as the only important thing in life – Charlie goes to school and learns and later becomes a doctor which is shown as being important and worthy – but it shows how nature can be there for us, that it can play a big role in our lives.
One of my favourite bits was when grown up Charlie came back to the river and the trees with his son and couldn’t find the wild one – just the things the wild one had loved. It felt like a comforting nod to things changing as we get older, but we can still enjoy them in different ways.
The illustrations are beautiful. One of the things I learned about and taught when I was teaching was visual literacy – seeing things in illustration (or charts or diagrams – it’s an important skill which is really helpful to learn). This is one of the picture books which would be great to use for that purpose. There’s small scientific sketches of flowers and birds and butterflies throughout the book, often to the side, not immediately drawing your focus. There’s the presence of non-natural children’s toys in the nature scenes and the use of nature in the non-nature scenes. There’s so many things to discuss and questions to ask – as well as stunning illustrations.
I think this is also the kind of picture book which has appeal to a large age group – my two year old enjoyed it, especially the pictures of animals. I think it would appeal to children moving from the kindergarten age into school age, too – especially the lovely school illustrations. Older children could definitely use it as a text to study.
I have a bad habit of falling in love with books we borrow from the library, then buying our own copy. This book is going to definitely be one of those books!
Originally reviewed at Subversive Reader
This is an absolutely stunning book, which I’ve wanted to read since it was tweeted about last year. I was lucky enough to find it in my local library before Christmas and my son and I have enjoyed reading it together a few times since then.
The Wild One looks at the role of nature in childhood, how it facilitates play and learning and a sense of wonder. It doesn’t portray nature as the only important thing in life – Charlie goes to school and learns and later becomes a doctor which is shown as being important and worthy – but it shows how nature can be there for us, that it can play a big role in our lives.
One of my favourite bits was when grown up Charlie came back to the river and the trees with his son and couldn’t find the wild one – just the things the wild one had loved. It felt like a comforting nod to things changing as we get older, but we can still enjoy them in different ways.
The illustrations are beautiful. One of the things I learned about and taught when I was teaching was visual literacy – seeing things in illustration (or charts or diagrams – it’s an important skill which is really helpful to learn). This is one of the picture books which would be great to use for that purpose. There’s small scientific sketches of flowers and birds and butterflies throughout the book, often to the side, not immediately drawing your focus. There’s the presence of non-natural children’s toys in the nature scenes and the use of nature in the non-nature scenes. There’s so many things to discuss and questions to ask – as well as stunning illustrations.
I think this is also the kind of picture book which has appeal to a large age group – my two year old enjoyed it, especially the pictures of animals. I think it would appeal to children moving from the kindergarten age into school age, too – especially the lovely school illustrations. Older children could definitely use it as a text to study.
I have a bad habit of falling in love with books we borrow from the library, then buying our own copy. This book is going to definitely be one of those books!
Originally reviewed at Subversive Reader
January 18, 2016
I adore this picture book team. Hartnett's prose escorts young readers through the sometimes daunting, often magical cycle of life through the eyes of Charlie whilst Mascuiullo's gorgeous illustrations focus magnificently on the alluring side of nature. Soft and subtle, rich and resonating; my little one demanded immediate successive re-reads. A captivating and beautiful way to harness imagination with life.
October 24, 2014
Story of our place in nature, growing up and being free. Great illustrations.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews