Wild Child

"Time for bed,"

Mother Earth said.

"Not for a while,"

said her wild child.

gave her child a song....

But then this wild child wants a snack and PJs and a kiss....

Lynn Plourde's text snaps and crackles like the leaves of fall as Mother Earth gently gets her daughter ready for bed. And Greg Couch's extraordinary illustrations take readers from the soft greens of late summer through the fiery oranges of a fall sunset to the peaceful blues of early winter's eve. Wild children and their parents will revel in this scrumptious, loving tribute to the wonders of nature and of family.

Publishers Weekly

The bouncing, methodical rhyme scheme that served Plourde well in her humorous Pig in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud and her recent Moose, of Course! works against the theme in this bedtime book. As Mother Earth repeatedly tries to put her daughter to sleep, she's met with the same reply, " `Not for a while,' said her wild child," who comes up with a variety of stalling tactics, including a song, a snack and, of course, a kiss goodnight. Each spread offers a number of clues as to the wild child's identity, most of which are smoothly integrated into Couch's (Moonball) artwork. While he keeps the girl visibly human in face and stature, fall leaves make up her hair; and hills, streams and stones comprise Mother Earth's beautifully sensuous lines and curves as she gives her daughter the gifts of the season (e.g., a snack of "Crunchy, munchy,/ chewy chestnuts./ Plumpy, lumpy,/ pulpy pumpkins"). His subtle brushwork and golden palette convey a dusk slowly metamorphosing to nightfall. Unfortunately, the jarring closing lines, which describe the mother's kiss, end the book on an eerie note: "A gusty, blustery, twisty embrace./ A crystalish, icicle-ish,/ icebergy kiss." Couch's artwork, showing Mother Earth tucking the girl (revealed to be Autumn) into bed, softens the imagery, but readers may well be put off by the cool language for a ritual usually characterized by warmth. Ages 3-8. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Lynn PIourde's first picture book, Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud, was selected as one of School Library Journal's 1997 Best Books of the Year. Kirkus declared it "a wonderful frolic in mud and verse." Lynn has worked for twenty years as a public school speech-language therapist. She is also the author of ten educational books, including the Classroom Listening and Speaking series. Lynn lives with her husband and three children in Winthrop, Maine, where she has been seen jumping in piles of leaves during her favorite season of fall.