A prequel to Torday’s Last Wild trilogy that is every bit as luminous as those beloved children’s classics, The Wild Before is a stunning mix of folklore, adventure and environmental awareness.
One frosty winter's night, a pure white calf is born on an ordinary muddy farm by the light of a silver moon. This is the legendary Mooncalf, whose arrival has been foretold since the dawn of time.
According to a dream passed down from animal to animal, if the calf dies, a great terribleness will come - rising seas, a plague, skies raining down fire, the end of all things... and Little Hare vows to persuade all the animals to protect Mooncalf, whatever the cost.
But it's easier said than done, and soon Little Hare realises that he is the only one who can save the world...
A stunning prequel to the award-winning, bestselling The Last Wild trilogy, touching on timely themes of climate change, friendship, and above all, hope.
Publisher: Hachette Children's Group
ISBN: 9781786541116
Number of pages: 240
Weight: 320 g
Dimensions: 200 x 134 x 28 mm
The Last Wild trilogy won the Guardian Children's FIction Prize and is one of the finest children's adventures of the past decade. Now, Torday returns with a prequel set years before the redeye virus has taken hold, when a young hare is the world's only hope of avoiding disaster. I absolutely loved this stunning animal adventure, every bit as accomplished as the original trilogy, although it could also be read as a satisfying standalone. Timely themes of climate change are woven into an unforgettable story of hope and friendship. - The Bookseller - Editor's Choice
An extraordinary book, a fable of our time.Torday creates a truly deep and timely tale and a magnificent prologue to The Last Wild Trilogy. Unsettling parallels to climate change and the underlying causes of the global pandemic, this story will make us think about the impact humans have upon the planet. Astonishing storytelling. I loved it. - Gill Lewis, author of Sky Hawk and A Street Dog Named Pup
Written in vivid and urgent style ... As thrilling as James and the Giant Peach ... The Last Wild may be as critical to the new generation as Tarka the Otter - The Times on The Last Wild trilogy
Piers Torday continues to demonstrate that he is one of the best writers for children working today - The Guardian, on There May Be a Castle
Gripping, original and memorable - Francesca Simon, on The Last Wild trilogy
A stunning, timely and beautifully-written novel about the urgency of saving our planet. We need stories like The Wild Before more than ever, if only so children know they are not alone. - Amy Raphael, Author of The Forest of Moon and Stars
Teaching is my second career – something I didn’t pick up until I was in my forties and I remember very clearly the children in my first class after I qualified. Amongst my charges was a very quiet boy, who had missed... More
Piers Torday’s The Last Wild Trilogy has been a hugely powerful collection of stories taking Kester Jaynes on an epic journey to save wildlife species from the insanity of man’s choices. These books have been... More
The Wild Before is a powerful story about our Earth. Written as softly as beautifully as an ode to the countryside, it also sounds the alarm on every page, loud and clear, about crisis and complacency. The main... More
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