The Wild

Zommer’s latest makes a plea for environmental awareness as his signature visuals highlight the life-sustaining beauty of the natural world. A classic fairy tale opening belies the true-to-life aspects of the tale that follows, about a harmonious place called The Wild, which humans initially appreciate, then gradually destroy until discovering their misguided ways. Simple storytelling follows a conventional narrative arc, while artwork wows with its creaturely personification of the titular scape as a greenery-covered beast who “stretched from the shallow shore to the deep ocean” and “always wanted to give.” As people of varied skin tones “plowed and mined and drained,” a drab brownness creeps across previously lush blue and green spreads. Eventually, a tan-skinned child’s call to action results in an optimistic ending whose message of conservation hints at new beginnings. Ages 3–7. (Feb.)