The Wilderness by Steve McCarthy

The Wilderness by Steve McCarthy. Candlewick Press, 2023. 9781536231373
Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 4
Format: Hardcover picture book
What did you like about the book? A family with twelve children, each one named after a month of the year, all love the outdoors.  Oktober does, too, but is afraid of possible monsters, particularly a very large monster called The Wilderness.  So Oktober stays inside reading and studying until Dad decides it is time for him to go out and explore with the family. Oktober did not see what the rest of the family did, he saw “a place filled with slimy tails and sharp teeth”.  Where the others saw treasure, Oktober saw “a murky mist hiding hideous creatures and 142 things in the wild that leave a very itchy rash”.  Then, oh horrors!, Oktober got lost – all by himself.  And he encountered The Wilderness.  He was terrified but guess what? The Wilderness was scared, too. Together they helped one another with the huge mountain of Wilderness bringing Oktober back home.  Oktober now sees all the things he has seen before, only now, with Wilderness by his side, he sees them differently.  The digitally-created illustrations are done in earth tones of browns, greens, blues and greys. The kids display a variety of skin tones with Dad being white and Mom Brown.
Anything you did not like about the book?  No.
To whom would you recommend this book? This is a book about facing your fears and being brave, a nice storytime read, open for discussions.
Who should buy this book?   Nursery schools and public libraries
Where would you shelve it? Picture books
Should we (librarians) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? No.
Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City: Katrina Yurenka, Retired Librarian, Contributor, Youth Services Book Review
Date of Review: October 11, 2023