Wild Peace

by Irene Latham, Il Sung Na (Illustrator)

Overview

Wild Peace by Irene Latham and Il Sung Na is a lush, soothing mindfulness picture book about finding solace in the natural world.

With lyrical text and whimsical art, Wild Peace follows a girl whose imagination helps her escape her frenzied home and discover the joys of nature. After enjoying the serenity of the forest, she is finally ready to return to her family, where peace welcomes all that is wild, and kisses the forehead of every child.


When the world fills with noise and fury,
and the days pass, all rush and scurry,
it's time to step into the forest . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250310422
Publisher:	Roaring Brook Press
Publication date:	10/19/2021
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.77(w) x 11.16(h) x 0.34(d)
Lexile:	AD450L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Irene Latham is a grateful creator of many novels, poetry collections, and picture books, including the coauthored Can I Touch Your Hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship, which earned a Charlotte Huck Honor, and The Cat Man of Aleppo, which won a Caldecott Honor. Irene lives on a lake in rural Alabama, where she experiences wild peace every single day.

Il Sung Na was born in Seoul, South Korea. After studying illustration in London and Maryland, he ended up in Kansas City, where he teaches illustration courses at KCAI (Kansas City Art Institute) and works on new books. His picture books include A Book of Sleep, That's My Carrot, and Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit. In his down time, Il Sung hits the flea markets to expand his collection of old and interesting items, which he then takes home to show off to his wife and small dog.

Editorial Reviews

"A meditative exploration of the peace that exists in the communion between humans and nature." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2021-09-15
A meditative exploration of the peace that exists in the communion between humans and nature.

A small, pale-skinned, black-haired child wearing a bright orange-and-red dress shares an almost colorless playroom with three other children, all colorless. The text describes this place as filled with “noise and fury,” and when a red butterfly flits through the open window, the protagonist follows the butterfly through a multihued crayon mural taped to the wall to the other side, into a wild forest. Suddenly, an abundance of colors in soothing shades fills the full-page spreads, depicting the flora and fauna of this (perhaps) imaginary forest in playful and delicate scenes. Clearly, nature is where the child finds peace, and the two are essentially equated. The poetic text, featuring one or two approximately rhyming lines on each page, presents a string of metaphors for peace such as, “Peace gathers as many nuts as it can carry / and feasts on a perfect berry.” Almost a dozen such personifications extolling the wonders and beauty of nature conclude at dusk and bring the protagonist home. While the poetic form is awkward in places and the metaphors sometimes feel stretched, the feelings of escape and tranquility in nature shine through. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

This journey through nature may not be perfect, but it’s worth taking. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews