Explorers of the Wild: Book Review

We happened upon Explorers of the Wild at our local library. Actually, it was in our bin of library holds. I have this habit of perusing our library catalogue online and indiscriminately requesting tons of books. As a result we have our very own library holding bin (lucky us!) that is often overflowing with exciting new books. That is how Explorers the Wild made its way into our home and no sooner than it arrived this book became a family favourite.

This beautifully illustrated book captivates young readers from the outset. The story follows a young boy and a young bear cub that go into the wilderness to explore. Eventually they run into each other – yikes! But after overcoming their initial fear they join forces to explore the wilderness together. The first time I read this story to my children they were very concerned when the boy and the bear cub meet. We talk about bear safety often. As the story continues onward, however, it shows the boy and the bear exploring together ad having fun. My older children knew that exploring with a baby bear probably wasn’t a good idea, especially without mama bear’s approval, but they enjoyed following the boy and the bear along on their adventure. It also gave them a different way of relating to wildlife. After all, we are all explorers of the wild.

Since we’ve enjoyed reading Explorers of the Wild so much I contacted the author, Cale Atkinson, who lives in the Kelowna, BC (Canada) and I asked him if he could share a little about his inspiration for the book.

Backwoods Mama: Hi Cale! Could tell me a little about what inspired you to write and illustrate this book?

Cale:  I grew up out around the forests around Vancouver BC, and always loved running around searching for any creatures, insects or other discoveries that hid under rocks or leaves. I wanted to try and tell a story sharing that love of exploration, as well as broach the subject of openness and tolerance to those who may at first appear different than yourself. I believe at heart we are all the same and together there’s no mountain we can’t climb.

Cale was very generous in sending me one copy of his book as a giveaway to a lucky reader of this blog. To enter the giveaway simply follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget below. The giveaway will close on September 24th at midnight and the winner will be announced on my Facebook Page shortly afterwards.