Katie Rewse

THE WALL AND THE WILD

Written by Christina Dendy

Illustrated by Katie Rewse

(Lantana Publishing; $17.99, Ages 4-8) 

 

 

 

 

Welcome to Day Four of The Wall and the Wild Blog Tour!

Scroll up or down for the full tour graphic.

 

 

The Wall and the Wild, the debut picture book from Christina Dendy with vibrant art by Katie Rewse is in its own lovely way, a call of the wild. Lured in by the cover illustration, I was beckoned on by the gratifying marriage of language and illustrations.

As the story opens, readers see a treetop view of a young girl, Ana, creating a garden. However, she’s overly picky about what she selects. There can be no flaws in what seeds she plants and her face shows when she is dissatisfied. “YOU, stay out THERE” Ana warns the disorderly WILD which, like nature, is really all around her. What doesn’t appear perfect she “throws into the untidy WILD.” With the WILD presented early on by Dendy as a character, my curiosity was piqued.

 

 

Intent on keeping her plot pristine, Ana constructs a stone wall, and soon her garden bursts with color and an abundance of beautiful flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Not only do friends come by to admire Ana’s garden, but so do creatures big and small. This feast for the eyes might please others, but Ana seems to only focus on the negative. I love how the author has added another important layer for children in this story about how limiting perfectionism can be. Ana finds and plucks plant intruders from the WILD whose presence mars the overall neat appearance. These weeds weren’t something Ana could tolerate. So, once again, along with more imperfect seeds, she tosses them all away.

 

 

Now Ana is more determined than ever. She adds onto her stone wall to prevent the WILD from coming in. Yet, rather than thrive in these conditions, Ana’s perfectly tidy garden seems to wither. The illustrations convey a quality of dullness. When visitors dwindle along with the plants’ health, Ana begins to question her intentions. Perhaps she was too controlling? Maybe it’s time to see what’s out in the WILD where all her discards have gone. “On the other side, voices babble, footsteps patter, and sunlight beams.” There’s a lightness to the prose and a hint at what’s to come.

 

 

 

To her surprise, a world of remarkable beauty awaits Ana beyond her wall. Here I grew excited to see Ana grow along with the WILD garden that’s flourished in spite of her efforts to thwart it. Seeing her realize that, as Dendy mentions in her back matter on ecosystems, “Seeds don’t need to look the same or ‘perfect’ to grow into perfectly beautiful, healthy plants,” is a rewarding moment in the story.

This lovely message of caring for all and how there’s room for everyone at the table or in the garden is as rich as the soil that Ana first tended. Something I missed on the first reading, but noted later on and truly appreciated as someone coming from a family with hearing loss is that Rewse has included the main character wearing hearing aids in her art. I can easily see this charming picture book included in classrooms’ STEM curriculums and as a great way to encourage outdoor, nature-based learning.

•  Reviewed by Ronna Mandel