DEAR WILD CHILD
You Carry Your Home Inside You
By: Wallace J. Nichols & Wallace Grayce Nichols
Illustrated by: Drew Beckmeyer
Published: August 9, 2022
Publisher: Abrams Books/Cameron Kids
A letter from a dad to his daughter is heartfelt, full of beautiful memories, tragic and yet hopeful. A couple awaits their baby daughter, building a home in the middle of a redwood forest and near the ocean. When the daughter is born, they fill the house with books, seashells, pets, and many wonderful memories.
After collecting years of memories, with lots of joy in the home, and a house that has survived floods and earthquakes an amazing lighting storm hits. A lightning strike starts a fire that sweeps through the forest and destroys their precious home. All that remained is the chimney.
I found this beautiful story to be an emotional one for me. Our husband and I remodeled every room of our first home while our boys were little. We made many memories there and brought our boys home from the hospital there, but the flood destroyed our home (5 years after we moved away), and knowing that we can never go back and remind ourselves of the memories made there hurts my heart. But, what I loved about this book is in this letter from a dad to his daughter, he reminds all of us that we carry our home with us wherever we go.
A letter to the reader at the end of the book shares how the daughter was away at college when the fire hit their home and his family barely escaped. The author shares how the weather is becoming less predictable and more severe and how humans need to learn from the forest and maybe learn to live a little differently.
Beckmeyer’s illustrations are really amazing and tell the story as much as the words do. This story is great for anyone who has suffered a loss or trauma. We can carry our home, our memories, and our experiences with us and those memories help us heal.
Dr. Wallace J. Nichols is a marine biologist and loves his daughters very much. Home is the slow coast of Central California.
Wallace Grayce Nichols is a student of sustainable design, problem solver, and water lover.
Drew Beckmeyer is a fine artist, illustrator, and elementary school teacher. His home is in California.
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Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to make a purchase through the above links, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase.
Posted Under Book Review, Children's books, Drew Beckmeyer, Wallace Grayce Nichols, Wallace J. Nichols, wild fires