Review by Booklist Review
A little girl, filled with boundless energy and enthusiasm, spends her day in perpetual motion until the final lights out page. Told in well-scanning, rhyming couplets, the child is compared to animals whose movements she imitates: Wild One, through the grass, bounding like a puppy. Wild One, at the pool, swimming like a guppy. Pen-and-ink illustrations with freely applied watercolors that don't always stay within the lines are apropos and reflect the vitality of the youngster's antics. With arms outstretched, hair streaming behind, and a smile on her face, the girl's joy is contagious. Using motion verbs, such as stretching, hanging, bounding, crawling, and hopping, the Wild One's activities and imagination are aptly described and depicted. The large font, sturdy pages, and few words per page make this a good selection for beginning readers. Pair this title with Quick as a Cricket (1982) by Audrey Wood and In the Tall, Tall Grass (1991) by Denise Fleming for a lively storytime and a discussion of animal movements easily mimicked.--Owen, Maryann Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-As a young girl plays freely in a park, the text and illustrations highlight her actions and compare them to creatures in the wild. As she hangs from the bars, slides down slides, makes friends, chases a butterfly, or swims in a pool, alternating pages feature a simile with an added image of similar animal behavior on the playground and in the pool. "Wild one, on monkey bars, hanging like a bat." Continuing her play, "Slipping like an eel," "bounding like a puppy," "swimming like a guppy," or "clapping like a seal," she runs happily from one activity to another. The turn of a page allows readers to predict the next animal comparison, and ink-and-watercolor illustrations record her play with busy movement. After "crawling like a snail," the young girl heads tiredly home from an exhausting afternoon, followed by a supper-charged energy boost of bedtime bouncing, snuggles, and end-of-the-day goodnights. VERDICT A recommended general purchase, this read-aloud choice fosters inference and opportunity for shared reading in home or preschool.-Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An exuberant little girl, the titular "wild one," romps energetically all day before finally collapsing into a well-deserved slumber. A series of similes compares the child, who has glossy, straight black hair and light brown skin, to various animals: "Wild one, through the grass, // bounding like a puppy. / Wild one, at the pool, // swimming like a guppy." Most of the time she is pictured alone, except for a sprinkler scene in which she plays with one white and one black child, the section where she walks home with her mother, and one illustration in which her mother and father (who resemble her in physical appearance) gaze fondly at her as she sleeps alone in her own bedroom. The rhyming text flows smoothly and has a jaunty rhythm that lends itself well to reading aloud. The playful watercolors start off saturated with bright colors that become muted as the child's day comes to a sleepy end. A sweet read-aloud featuring a fearless and athletic girl to share with funny little monkeys. (Picture book. 2-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
