WOLFGANG IN THE WILD

A young boy and his dog seek a home in the woods in this debut picture book.

Wolfgang, a blond-haired White boy with a trusty Dalmatian, decides to live in the wild, and he’s out the door of his family’s cabin before his mother can tell him, “Dinner will be ready when you come home.” Accompanied by his pooch and a parade of wild animals, Wolfgang heads into the woods and arrives at a vast lake. When he encounters animals, he asks about their homes. But he realizes that the anthill is too small, the pine tree too high, and the forest too vast for him to make a cozy home. Finally, when his mother calls him for dinner, he returns to his house, happy to be there—but still intent on living in the wild the next day. Using vibrant language to describe Wolfgang’s odyssey, Kelly Birdsong and Tim Birdsong make the textures, sounds, sights, and smells vivid for young readers. Kramer’s mixed-media illustrations, which feature cartoon and sketched characters and animals against painted backgrounds, are equally inviting. But the assortment of creatures is never mentioned in the text, and readers may be surprised that a bear, wolf, fox, dog, and squirrel get along so well. The images also indicate a much wider world throughout the story than is indicated in the last pages when Wolfgang returns home. This will lead many readers to question how much of the trek is in the boy’s imagination.

An appealing adventure that celebrates the wilderness.