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WILDOAK

Page history last edited by RichiesPicks 1 year, 4 months ago

25 November 2022 WILDOAK by C.C. Harrington, Scholastic Press, September 2022, 336p., ISBN: 978-1-338-80386-0

 

“Try and leave this world a little better than you found it”

– attributed to Lord Baden Powell, founder of the Scouting movement

 

“Why don't you all f-f-fade away (talkin' 'bout my generation)

And don't try to d-dig what we all s-s-say (talkin' 'bout my generation)

I'm not trying to 'cause a b-b-big s-s-sensation (talkin' 'bout my generation)

I'm just talkin' 'bout my g-g-generation (talkin' 'bout my generation).”

– “My Generation,” a well-known example of stuttering in popular music. The Who (1965)

 

“Harrods luxury department store in Knightsbridge is now home to over 5,000 brands, selling designer fashion, fine jewelry, food, furniture and more. However, it was once the home of a legendary Pet Kingdom, selling all sorts of exotic animals such as lions, alligators and elephants.

Rightfully so, this cruel practice of selling wild animals as pets is not continued by the store today. The pet store section of the shop closed back in 2014 and was replaced with a womenswear section, thus bringing to end one of the most extraordinary eras in retail history.

While it is almost hard to believe today that all these wild animals were sold right here in London, the history of the store tells an incredible story. The department store's ‘Pet Kingdom’ opened up back in 1917 selling animals such as tigers and panthers.”

– Ella Bennett, mylondon.news (2022)

 

“‘Wellington? Wellington, I’m back,’ she whispered, lifting a shoebox off the shelf and into her lap. The sides of the box had been cut open to make miniature windows and a front door that never closed.

‘Hello, my friend,’ she said, nudging a nest of straw and bits of torn-up newspaper. A small brown mouse poked his head out, whiskers twitching.’How are you doing? I’ve got so much to tell you.’ Maggie paused. ‘It’s not really a good kind of tell you. More of a bad kind of tell you.’ The mouse shook his head and dislodged little pieces of straw from behind his ears. Then he stood up on his hind legs and cocked his head to one side, almost as if he were listening.

It had been this way since Maggie could remember. Since the day her parents had first taken her to the London Zoo and she’d seen the tiger. He had come up to her on the other side of the bars, close. Close enough for Maggie to look directly into his gold-amber eyes. ‘You’re trying to tell me things,’ she had whispered, her small human heart beating hard, ‘But you can’t get the words out, can you?’

Then, without thinking, she had started talking to the big cat and the words had flowed. No stuttering, no blocks, nothing. Mr. and Mrs. Stephens had stared, astonished by what was happening. Nobody had ever been able to understand the why or how of it, but from that moment on, Maggie had not stuttered whenever she talked to animals. She still didn’t.”

 

WILDOAK is set in 1963 Britain. The story’s point of view alternates between Maggie, a young girl burdened by lifelong stuttering, and Rumpus, a young snow leopard who has been sold by Harrods. Rumpus crosses paths with this extraordinary young animal lover after he wrecks the flat of the woman to whom he was given as a gift, and is loaded into a truck and then dumped in a Cornwall forest. That ancient forest adjoins the village where Maggie is sent for a visit with her maternal grandfather, a kindly old physician named Fred. Her parents’ hope is that the change of scenery will help her move toward overcoming her stuttering. 

 

Driven by hunger, Rumpus stumbles into a claw trap and nearly perishes before he’s discovered by Maggie. She brings him water, struggles in vain  to free him from the trap, and bandages his injured paw. The pair bond. 

 

But what should she do next? Can the leopard survive its subsequent infection? Where can he live safely as the ancient forest is being chopped down for development?

 

WILDOAK, the moving story of Maggie and Rumpus, vividly depicts the interconnectedness of life on Planet Earth. For those who believe that our stewardship of the planet must include preservation of scarce wild environments and threatened wild creatures–of leaving this place better than we found it–this is a must-have for sharing with middle grade and middle school readers.

 

Richie Partington, MLIS

Richie's Picks  http://richiespicks.pbworks.com

https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/    

richiepartington@gmail.com  

 

 

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