Going Wild: Helping Nature Thrive in Cities

by Michelle Mulder

Overview

What if the new key to making our lives safer (and even healthier) is to allow the wilderness back into our cities?

Going wild. We don't see it as a good thing. And why would we? For most of our time on earth, humanity has been running from lions and other wilderness dangers. We've worked hard to make our local landscapes as safe and convenient as possible. Sometimes that's meant paving over areas that might burst into weeds. Other times, we've dammed rivers for electricity or irrigation. But now pollution, climate change and disruptions to the water cycle are affecting the world in ways we never anticipated.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459812895
Publisher:	Orca Book Publishers
Publication date:	03/20/2018
Series:	Orca Footprints Series , #12
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	48
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Michelle Mulder is the founding author of and has written numerous titles in the Orca Footprints series including Pedal It!, Every Last Drop, Trash Talk and Home Sweet Neighborhood. They have also written several works of fiction including The Vegetable Museum and Not a Chance. Michelle lives in Victoria, British Columbia.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter One: paving the way

• Mmm, Wild Breakfast
• Grow It Yourself
• A Wheely Good Idea
• Nature? Not Today, Thanks
• Beware the Wild Beasts!
• Factories for the Future
• Pave It!
• Through the Cracks

Chapter Two: Road Block

• Helloooo Under There!
• A Lawn? How Royal!
• Biodiversity Blues
• Make Way for Water
• Rewild the Wildlife!
• Sprouting Something Good

Chapter Three: Life in the City

• My Way or the Highway?
• Marsh This Way
• Going Wild Downtown
• Big, Scary Nature
• The Host with the Most
• Flower Power
• Going Batty
• The Dirt on Cities

Chapter Four: Wildlife Welcome

• Climb That Tree!
• Sidewalk Safari
• Dirt to the Rescue
• Find Your Human Herd
• Tree-mendous Kid Power
• Be a Scientist, Citizen
• Walking on the Wild Side
• Welcome Home

Resources
Acknowledgments
Glossary
Index

Editorial Reviews

03/19/2018
In an addition to her Orca Footprints series of ecologically minded titles, Mulder promotes the idea of planning urban spaces that coexist in greater harmony with nature. Writing in short, casual sections, Mulder offers a brief, general history of how humans have become increasingly cut off from the wilderness and centralized within urban areas. Why does this matter? “Because no matter how much our cities usually separate us from the rest of nature, we humans are still part of the natural world,” she explains. With photographs of deer, foxes, coyotes, and other animals spotted within city limits, she lays out the challenges and opportunities for creating more green space. She references innovative urban planning—for example, in Helsinki, Finland, planners have created “green fingers,” or stretches of land within cities that enable wildlife to freely roam without encountering humans or vehicles. For readers who wish to help “invite nature back in,” Mulder suggests growing native plants in urban spaces, building bat houses, creating litter-free spaces, and composting. A slim yet thoughtful volume that offers an intriguing and achievable vision. Ages 9–12. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"Mulder approaches her topic with enthusiasm…Readers intrigued by the idea of greener cities will find plenty of encouragement here, along with examples from around the world. One or two attractive color photos appear on every page. A short, persuasive introduction to the rewilding movement."

Booklist

"Young readers will have no trouble finding references they can relate to throughout this book as they examine their own urban lifestyles for the vital connections with nature that are emphasized here…Going Wild could be well used to stimulate discussion on the topic. Highly Recommended."

CM Magazine

"This book is highly recommended for both public and school libraries. The book offers great ideas for classroom field trips and nature projects. It offers ideas for individual projects as well. It is no small feat to combine descriptions of widespread environmental degradation with examples of hope and positive change but this is indeed what Michelle Mulder has done in Going Wild."

Resource Links

"Provides useful, informative text accompanied by clear and appealing photographs…Conversational writing makes the information provided accessible to the target audience and relevant to those wanting to make the world a better place."

Sal's Fiction Addiction blog

"Mulder approaches her topic with enthusiasm…Readers intrigued by the idea of greener cities will find plenty of encouragement here, along with examples from around the world. One or two attractive color photos appear on every page. A short, persuasive introduction to the rewilding movement."

Booklist

03/01/2018
Gr 4–7—Mulder adds to her catalog of environmentally focused titles with this account of all of the ways nature has to adapt to urban environments. There are a lot of riveting ideas briefly discussed here, including the connection between rats and the bubonic plague, the history of forcing Indigenous children into residential schools, and the connection between microbes and mental health. The book's biggest challenge is its effort to explain so many complex historical topics prior to exploring the current, delicate urban ecosystem. However, the book more successfully explains the enormous impact human habitation has on the surrounding natural world. Sidebars include "Wild Facts" and "Making Tracks" that provide some extra fun information as well as personal anecdotes from the author. A glossary of unfamiliar vocabulary words (such as habitecture) is also helpful. There are also suggestions on how readers can improve their relationship with nature by composting, planting seeds, and spending more time enjoying the outdoors. VERDICT Perfect for inspiring readers to explore the natural world while also encouraging discussion about the environmental changes caused by humans.—Alyssa Annico, Youngstown State University, OH

School Library Journal

2018-01-22
Dependent on what they could find in nature for thousands of years, humans eventually developed agriculture and banded together into cities, but now they're looking for ways to bring the natural world into urban environments.The author of Pocket Change (2016), Trash Talk (2015), Every Last Drop (2014), and similarly eco-conscious titles continues this series with a look at urban rewilding. In four chapters, she describes the development of cities, the environments they overlaid, current examples of efforts to bring nature back, and how kids can get involved. She mentions the effects of the Industrial Revolution, efforts to disconnect indigenous peoples from their links with nature, the origin of lawns, and instances of large, wild animal visitors. Readers may have difficulty discerning the organization that underlies her argument, but they will certainly get her message: we all need a stronger connection to the natural world. She encourages young people to get outside and get their hands dirty (it's healthful!) and to get involved in citizen-science efforts. Her text is made more accessible with clear subheadings, italicized words (defined in a glossary), and plentiful photographs from around the world which include a variety of ages and races. Sidebars offer interesting "Wild Facts" and "Making Tracks," examples from her own life.Recommended for settings where others in the series have been useful. (resources, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews