Going Wild: Helping Nature Thrive in Cities

by Michelle Mulder

Going wild. We don't see it as a good thing. And why would we? For most of our time on earth, humanity has been running from lions and other wilderness dangers. We've worked hard to make our local landscapes as safe and convenient as possible. Sometimes that's meant paving over areas that might burst into weeds. Other times, we've dammed rivers for electricity or irrigation. But now pollution, climate change and disruptions to the water cycle are affecting the world in ways we never anticipated. What if the new key to making our lives safer (and even healthier) is to allow the wilderness back into our cities?

Genres: Nonfiction

48 pages, Hardcover

Published March 20, 2018

About the author

Michelle Mulder is a Canadian children's author. She loves writing about kids who seize life's opportunities, and she tries to do the same in her own life. Some of her favourite adventures have included helping to dig a water pipeline in the Dominican Republic, backpacking through Argentina with her husband, and riding a hot air balloon through a Cappadocian valley in Turkey. She lives with her husband in Victoria, BC.

Reviews

[Brooklyn || The Wild Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read & evaluated this book for the Vancouver Children's Literature Roundtable (VCLR)'s 2019 Information Book Award.

This book in the Orca Footprints series was better than some of the others. Each page in this one does have a fair amount of text, but it is visually less busy. I also enjoyed the connection between cities and nature.

[Jean-Sylvain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This children's book can certainly interest adults ! It paints a portrait of the place of nature in the lives of humans through history. How humanity has come to gradually move away from it, and how we can bring it back into our lives. We are part of the living world, and feeling more connected to it is good for your health!

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally! A book about the benefits of having animals in cities. Instead of portraying wild animals as germ carrying, rabies filled Mulder talks about how to incorporate animals into human existence.

[Alison Zak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of scientific facts, photographs, kid-appropriate calls-to-action, and uplifting examples of humans and nature thriving in harmony. We need more books like this!

[Sharon Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going Wild: Helping Nature Thrive in Cities by Michelle Mulder is a nonfiction book for readers from middle grade to adults. Over most of recorded history people have worked hard to make our local landscapes as safe and convenient as possible. Sometimes that's meant paving over areas that might burst into weeds. Other times, we've dammed rivers for electricity or irrigation. But now pollution, climate change and disruptions to the water cycle are affecting the world in ways we never anticipated. What if the new key to making our lives safer (and even healthier) is to allow the wilderness back into our cities?

Going Wild: Helping Nature Thrive in Cities is an interesting and inspiring read. I like it gives details about what people and cities around the world are doing to help nature thrive in the cities around them. It also points out that much smaller things that can be done by anyone and everyone to help nature. It is important to show kids, and adults alike, that they do not need to make drastic changes all at once to make a positive change. Little things like hanging a bat house or planting flowers or other plants in containers or gardens are all things that can help the would around us with very little effort. Small changes can build up and lead us to do bigger and better things that can help even more people and aspects of nature along the way. I really liked how many additional resources and similar information was included at the end of the book. The glossary and pathways to further research and action were a great touch. I think it might inspire children, and their families, to make efforts of varying degrees to help the world around them.