Going Wild: Helping Nature Thrive in Cities. Written by Michelle Mulder. Orca Book Publishers. 2018. $19.95 ages 9 and up

"My daughter's favorite part of our local playground is the wooded area around it - with a bushy area to build forts in, trees to climb, and plenty of food! Happily, our city does not spray with pesticides, and in June my daughter and I love picking salmonberries. Then come thimbleberries, and later blackberries. Lately we've been learning about other native plants we can eat, and now ... "

If you have other books from the Orca Footprints series, you will be happy to add this one to your collection. You will already be familiar with the design, the purpose, and the wealth of information that is shared in these books. Written for kids in middle school and up, they provide useful, informative text accompanied by clear and appealing photographs

Michelle Mulder uses her research skills to let readers know why getting out into nature is a meaningful pursuit - "it is both fun and good for your health". Her introduction includes an information box called Making Tracks. In it she reveals one important part of the abundant research she conducted.

"While I was writing this book, I tried to spend at least half an hour a day enjoying nature. My daughter and I cloud-gazed in a meadow, listened to red-winged blackbirds sing in a bog, poked around beaches and watched pods of orcas frolic in the waves."

Early humans were at one with nature, consuming its bounty and doing what needed to be done to preserve the land they depended on for life. With progress and agricultural development, many moved to the cities. Clearing the land pushed animals away from these newly established developments. Today, urban areas are looking for ways to go 'back to nature' and to welcome that natural world in  urban surroundings.

Following her introduction, Ms. Mulder pens four separate, but connected, chapters to describe how we can work to bring nature back to our cities. She begins with Paving the Way and explains the changes over time, citing the variety of inventions that have encouraged progress and adaptations made to accommodate so many changes.  Nature finds a way to thrive despite our attempts to eliminate it.

"We've tried with traps, pesticides, and even with guns,
but the natural habitat keeps creeping in, often in ways that
scare us. Now many cities are trying a different approach.
What if, instead of fighting wild nature off, we invite it in?"

She does her best to explain what has happened, what is happening, and what might still happen if we work together to make a stronger connection to the world we live in. There are many ways for each of us to get involved, and to encourage others to do the same.

Readers will find the information boxes, Making Tracks and Wild Fact, informative and often quite surprising. In back matter, the author includes a list of resources, acknowledgements, a glossary and an index. Her conversational writing makes the information provided accessible to the target audience and relevant to those wanting to make the world a better place.

It really is up to us to find ways to think seriously about the health of the planet, our cities, and ultimately, ourselves. Urban spaces can become friendlier for all nature. We just have to have a plan! 

 “Because no matter how much our cities usually separate us from the rest of nature, we humans are still part of the natural world ...”