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Table of Contents
About The Book
A classroom of children embarks on a quest to grow new trees from the clippings of a fallen willow tree and to rewild their schoolyard in this lyrical picture book loosely based on a true story.
The old willow tree has stood in the schoolyard for as long as anyone can remember. It’s a gathering place, a run-laps-around place, a dream-under place. Until one blustery night when a storm blows it over.
Brokenhearted over the loss of their beloved tree, the students come up with a wonderfully wild idea: to grow new willows! They gather branches and trim clippings, and before long, many new trees begin to take root. But their wonderfully wild ideas don’t stop there. With the help of their community, can the class transform their entire schoolyard?
The old willow tree has stood in the schoolyard for as long as anyone can remember. It’s a gathering place, a run-laps-around place, a dream-under place. Until one blustery night when a storm blows it over.
Brokenhearted over the loss of their beloved tree, the students come up with a wonderfully wild idea: to grow new willows! They gather branches and trim clippings, and before long, many new trees begin to take root. But their wonderfully wild ideas don’t stop there. With the help of their community, can the class transform their entire schoolyard?
About The Author
Photo courtesy of the author
Jessica Stremer is a mom and military spouse with a bachelor’s degree in biology. She combines her love of science and writing to create books that inspire kids to explore the world around them and beyond. She is the author of the nonfiction picture books Great Carrier Reef and Lights Out. When not writing, Jessica loves spending time with her family traveling, hiking, and camping.
About The Illustrator
Photo courtesy of the illustrator
Josée Masse is an author and illustrator from Montreal. She enjoys spending time drawing and looking out the window at the birds eating their food and the squirrels stealing it! Her favorite things to illustrate are plants, forests, and magical scenes. Josée is the author-illustrator of Le jardin de madame Héléna, published in her native French, and she is the illustrator of numerous picture books, including Wonderfully Wild, the bestselling The Care and Keeping of You volumes one and two, and the critically acclaimed books of “reverso poems,” Mirror Mirror and Follow, Follow.
Why We Love It
“In a marketplace full of tree stories, this one truly stands out as it highlights real students’ efforts to regrow willow trees from a fallen one and to rewild, or restore, their schoolyard back to a more natural ecofriendly state. I believe Wonderfully Wild will inspire readers to help care for the natural world around them and show how we can turn our losses into something new and beautiful.”
—Catherine L., Senior Editor, on Wonderfully Wild
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books (May 6, 2025)
- Length: 48 pages
- ISBN13: 9781665958172
- Ages: 4 - 8
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Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): Wonderfully Wild Fixed Layout eBook 9781665958172
- Author Photo (jpg): Jessica Stremer Photo courtesy of the author(0.1 MB)
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