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above: first jungle sighting of the feared wild child
WILD CHILD -written & illustrated by Steven Salerno, published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2015.
The jungle animals have their lives turned upside down when the most terrible and fearsome creature of all shows up one day... the Wild Child! And in order to bring peace back to the jungle they must quickly figure out a way to calm this wild thing!
"Forceful writing and the improbable gracefulness Salerno bestows on this kicking, biting, punching machine makes this a furiously fun read" -Publishers Weekly
“Salerno pairs rhythmic language with action-packed images to show the naked, pink-skinned baby terrorizing the jungle, followed by each animal's doomed attempt to soothe, feed, or entertain this little beast. Bright, sketchy illustrations in crayon, gouache, and digital media will work for group read-alouds or one-on-one sharing. VERDICT Wild children and their caregivers will get a kick out of this jungle romp” -School Library Journal
“Both the vivid images and the action-packed vocabulary, many of the action verbs are in bold font, bring the story to life” -School Library Connection
“A two-toothed toddler needs no wolf suit to be wildest thing of all in this high-volume prequel to a certain well-known classic. Salerno crowds broad, bright, cartoon jungle scenes with huge animals who growl, roar, stomp their feet, and gnash their teeth with thrilling ferocity… A salutary lesson in jungle parenting” -Kirkus Reviews
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above: cropped view of the cover for Wild Child.
see Steven’s complete list of published picture books to date
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above: the wild child relentlessly terrorizing all the jungle animals.
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above: detailed cropped view of a page from the printed book... the wild child gets an unwnated shower from the elephant.
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above: a random pattern of jungle leaves used as the end papers art.
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above: detailed cropped view of the title page in the printed book.
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above: a preliminary SKETCH... the Gorilla cradles the wild child in her arms while sitting quietly in the grass.
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above: detail from a spread which illustrates the following lines of text:
Constantly grabbing, pinching, and pooping!
Forever pulling, kicking, and crying!
Always biting, hitting, and howling!