The Wild Girl

Through illustrations which draw the eye, this talented author/illustrator evokes a terrific feeling of space and loneliness in this book. High in the mountains, a little, wild girl and her small dog live in a cave in a bleak, cheerless wilderness. She dresses in animal fur, sharpens flints to make spears, hunts for food and cooks over a fire. One day they find huge bear tracks in the snow, going into… and out of… their cave. The dog growls, and the girl fears the bear will come back. And it does, a great, dark shape filling the mouth of the cave. Bravely, girl and dog bar its way, and strangely, the bear turns, leaving them alone. Rejoicing in victory over the bad, old bear, they then discover a tiny bear cub, hiding in the back of the cave. How the girl and dog and cub shout and search for the mother bear, in the moonlit, lonely wilderness. And when, tired out, they trudge back through deep snow, there she is, at the mouth of their cave. That winter, as all four snuggle up, the cave is the warmest place in all the wide wilderness. The text is often sparse, the words carefully selected, and whilst the illustrations evoke a strong sense of cold and isolation, one feels a warmth too. The story is told entirely in the third person, with no direct speech. It is an enchanting tale, with just the right balance between feeling frightened and being brave, and the resolution is perfect.