🐆Wild Oak
✒️C.C.Harrington
🎨Katie Hickey
📔Chicken House
Wild Oak Themes: 🌍UK London/ Cornwall 📅1963🌳Woodlands 🐆Snow Leopard🩷Friendship ♻️Protecting wildlife 👴Intergenerational relationship 🗣️Stammer/ Stutter 🍃Natural remedies🔞Middle grade
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Wild Oak Magic
Wild Oak was just the read I was looking for. I read it aloud to Floss (age seven) as we were having a quiet afternoon – she was busy crafting and playing as I read. If you’re looking to escape to the wild then this is the book for you. It’s gentle and enchanting yet grasps hold of you in the most magical way.
Wild Oak Synopsis
Maggie lives in London in 1963. When Maggie talks to animals she can speak freely but when she tries to talk to humans her words get stuck. She has a stutter which has meant her school have rejected her and her father wants her to go to a different school that doesn’t have a good reputation for looking after its pupils.
Thankfully, her mother has a better plan and Maggie goes to stay with her grandad who she’s not seen for many years due to an argument with her Dad. Her grandfather and her share a love of the natural world and spending time in Cornwall is just what Maggie needs.
Snow Leopard for Sale in Harrods!
Running parallel to the story of Maggie is the story of Rumpus a snow leopard who we first discover for sale in Harrods but soon ends up in Wild Oak where their storylines intermingle.
Rumpus finds himself fighting for his life and in terrible peril. But he has ‘the girl’, his protector. It’s fighting for what she loves, that allows Maggie to finally be heard.
A favourite quote of mine is at the start of the book:
‘Only if we understand, can we care.
Only if we care, will we help.
Only if we help, shall all be saved.’
Dr Jane Goodall, 40 Years at Gombe
It’s that love and care that is so important that we get when we read and understand. Books aren’t just pages their portals into places in our world and help us appreciate and want to help.
⛔Spoiler Warning⛔
One aspect of the book that felt very real and true was how the story ends. Throughout the book I was worried that the book may end – dare I say – happily ever after!
It’s not that I don’t want a happy ending (the ending is superb). I was concerned that it may end like a movie where Maggie’s stutter disappears and she was ‘fixed’.
I’m so pleased to say that this was not the case and C.C.Harrington’s ending was perfect. It’s a story that would leave children feeling empowered and help them find their ‘voice’ in their own way.
Perfect Book Pairing – The Snow Girl
❄️If you’ve read Wild Oak then you’d love The Snow Girl. If you’ve read Snow Girl then you’ll adore Wild Oak! Both are swimming in nature, emotion and a magical connection between Granddaughter and Grandfather. Find my review of The Snow Girl here.
Buy Wild Oak
