Wonderfully Wild: Rewilding a School and Community

A classroom of children embarks on a quest to grow new trees from the clippings of a fallen willow tree and to rewild their schoolyard in this uplifting picture book "rich with information and heart" (School Library Journal, starred review) loosely based on a true story.

The old willow tree has stood in the schoolyard for as long as anyone can remember. It's a gathering place, a run-laps-around place, a dream-under place. Until one blustery night when a storm blows it over.

Brokenhearted over the loss of their beloved tree, the students come up with a wonderfully wild idea: to grow new willows! With nature as their classroom, they immerse themselves in the sensory experience of the outdoors as they gather branches and trim clippings. Before long, many new trees begin to take root. But their wonderfully wild ideas don't stop there. Can the class encourage their community to reconnect with nature and transform their entire schoolyard?

Author: Jessica Stremer
Publisher: Beach Lane Books
Published: 05/06/2025
Pages: 48
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 10.10h x 10.30w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9781665958165
Audience: Ages 4-8


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 02/03/2025
Booklist 03/01/2025 pg. 94
Kirkus Reviews 03/15/2025
School Library Journal 05/02/2025 pg. 1

About the Author
Jessica Stremer is a mom and military spouse with a bachelor's degree in biology. She combines her love of science and writing to create books that inspire kids to explore the world around them and beyond. She is the author of the nonfiction picture books Wonderfully Wild, Lights Out, and Trapped in the Tar Pit. When not writing, Jessica loves spending time with her family traveling, hiking, and camping.

Josée Masse is an author and illustrator from Montreal. She enjoys spending time drawing and looking out the window at the birds eating their food and the squirrels stealing it! Her favorite things to illustrate are plants, forests, and magical scenes. Josée is the author-illustrator of Le jardin de madame Héléna, published in her native French, and she is the illustrator of numerous picture books, including Wonderfully Wild, the bestselling The Care and Keeping of You volumes one and two, and the critically acclaimed books of "reverso poems," Mirror Mirror and Follow, Follow.