Isabella Tree’s ‘Wilding’, which told the story of the founding of Knepp, a rewilding project in the south of England, won the Wainwright Prize for nature writing in 2019. ‘When we went wild’ retells that story, beautifully and inspiringly, in picture book form. It is beautifully pitched, being neither too preachy, nor too vague, and gorgeously illustrated. Exploring the wholeness that rewilding has reintroduce, not only to the land and its wildlife, but to the people in the surrounding community too, this is a book for every child’s bookshelf, filled with hope and teeming with potential.

I really loved this fantastic children's book, which has beautiful illustrations and a lovely story about a family who live on a farm and decide to let their farm grow wild, in order to help nature, animals and the environment. This book should be in every school, as it is educational and it has a wonderful message which is much needed in today's society. My daughter enjoyed this book too, particularly the illustrations and the cute animals.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Apologies, I did not download this file in time before it was archived, and I've only realised that now when it has been placed in Archived-Not Downloaded.

Beautiful illustrations which really bring the book to life. Would be a gorgeous gift for any child.

When We Went Wild is a beautiful children’s book about two farmers deciding to rewind their farm. The illustrations are bountiful and gorgeous. I love the principle of this book, but found the exposition quite clunky, even for a short children’s story. I would have liked to see a little more nuance.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a lovely idea for a book and the story that inspired it is really interesting. It's important to learn about conservation and the consequences of chemicals on the environment from an early age. I feel this book was written more for adults than for children, however. I'm not sure the story, while appealing to an adult, would hold a child's interest. I think it woud definitely be useful in a classroom setting but I feel the story falls a bit flat for anything other than an educational purpose. I do think a series of children's books set on this farm that focuses on the farm animals and wildlife would be fantastic. As this focused more on the farmers, their neighbours and farming techniques, it didn't seem as child-friendly or as entertaining as a series about the animals and their adventures (and misadventures) might be. The colourful illustrations are very attractive and I loved the note at the back about the author's rewilding experience and the beautiful photos of their own farm.

Such a lovely story about valuing the Earth and farming naturally. Instilling care for the environment in children early is so important, and this will definitely contribute to that: I love the message of persevering even if other people think what you're doing is ridiculous, and that they'll eventually come to realise the value in what you're doing! Plus the illustrations are just beautiful.

This picture book is a lovely true tale and we throughly enjoyed reading it together. The illustrations are appealing and my daughter enjoyed looking at the animals, birds and insects.

The story arc is well developed and yet simple enough for young readers to understand. The illustrations help by depicting the sad animals and then evolve into bright colourful pictures as the farm becomes more alive. It was a wonderful experience to share this with each other, and provided lots of conversation opportunities. We talked about our own garden and how we can help nature thrive in it.

This story would be a great tool for topic work for early years and a brilliant addition to a school library.

Personally I really enjoyed the postscript, I found this incredibly informative and interesting. Perhaps something for the adults to read themselves after sharing the book with children.

I received a ebook version of this book from NetGalley for my unbiased review

'Through the joyful story of farmers Nancy and Jake, this delightful picture book presents the principles and many delights of rewilding to young readers, celebrating nature’s own ways of making things flourish.'
I love Isabella Tree so much, this is a subject very close to my heart, I deeply believe that we need to find other for of sustainability, to find a book to be able to talk about this with my children really meant a lot to me, as I am sure it will most ethically conscious parents.
Beautifully written and illustrated, easy to read and explain to younger children.
Thank you Isabella Tree

Can we talk about how magical this cover is? The illustrations are breathtaking! I remember when I was a child, I used to love books illustrated with a lot of flowers, trees, plants, and nature in general. It all seemed so enchanting to me, and I could stare at the images for days. Now, into this lovely book.

We get a closer look at farm life from Nancy and Jake's point of view - their everyday activities, the animals they take care of, the equipment they use, etc. But then we also get a glimpse of how farming today looks and how it has changed. Technology, chemicals, developments in the industry has led to everything looking far less natural than we expect it to be. Both humans and animals seemed sad by the way farming looks today.

I love that the idea that was introduced - animals weren't happy. Animals feel too. And just as Nancy and Jake and their animals changed their lives, and nature was starting to grow back again, here come the nosy neighbors who don't like it one bit. Wild flowers, and no chemicals, and animals just running around? They don't like it one bit!

This little book isn't so little after all. It deals with some current, burning issues. It's sad how we love nature and want to take care of it, because we depend on it, but also how we always want everything to be according to our standards, and our ways.

In the end, the neighbors learn their lesson, and it illustrates exactly how things should be, as well as the lessons we all still need to learn.

I am certain that today's youth will very much want to hear about nature and animals, and about the concept of 'rewilding'. This is a must-read and I am so glad that someone has come out for a book with kids on this topic!

Whether for the theme itself, or the pure beauty of the illustrations, this is definitely a book of importance.

This book made me really think about all the things we do to harm the environment. It has such a good message and made me want to improve.

A great story that explains to younger children about the environment and about how our actions affect the world around us - i.e the use of chemicals.
Cute illustrations alongside which makes the book easy to understand for younger kids as well.

This is one of the best children's books I read in a long time. It is the most important thing to teach about the environment to children from very early ages. And they need to know how the food we eat produced and how it affects the environment. The story is enjoyable, and the illustrations are well-made. We need more books like this. Great book!