ISBN: 9780192743657
Noah is excited about the upcoming 6-week school holidays – “freedom” as he calls it. He and his friends love playing in the “Wilderness” – a patch of rough overgrown land, “a rare wild place in the middle of the city where we can play and have fun, but also home to lots of creatures” – all day and into the night.
They build dens for themselves, clear tunnels in bramble bushes to crawl through, make campfires and play games like man-hunt (a type of hide and seek, but at night, with torches). But on his way home that first night, he bumps into a signboard saying “Land for Sale”. Noah can’t believe his eyes, and immediately jumps into action – it can just not happen! Their Wilderness can’t be cleared for buildings! What about their natural playground, and what’s worse – what about the wildlife? “If you build houses at the top, and diggers and builders come on the land and more people and traffic in the street, then the wild creatures will disappear. We will lose everything that is precious”.
Together Noah and his friends set off to find proof – photographs of rare animal or plant species, or anything that would put a stop to the sale and development of their “wilderness”.
Noah builds a lookout for “enemies”, and the children all gather “weapons of warfare” (blowpipe, bows and arrows, water guns, spud guns) to defend their territory. They’ll do whatever it takes to save the wilderness, even if it costs a broken arm… They take turns to “wilderness watch” to make sure they see when “tree surgeons” or builders might come; they dig man-traps (big holes) in the ground; and even develop their own code to communicate with one another in case they spotted someone. They manage to successfully scare off some “intruders” one night – vandalistic teenagers – but will they be able to save their land from developers?
This is a fun read, falling in line with a “deforestation”, “endangered species” or “camp” theme, and include a valuable lesson in standing up and speaking out for nature who is without a voice.
The book presents some fun activities after the story, including
- Noah’s notes on bees
- A link to the GROW Wild website where kids can learn to build a DIY bee house
- Steps to build a (safe) campfire
- Recipe for campfire Bread Twists
- Instructions on how to create a mini frog pond
- Instructions on how to make your own woodland den
Written in straight-forward, easy-to-read language, using everyday words, this makes for a fun adventure story for children aged 8-12.
