A new kind of wild /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This sweet author-illustrator debut celebrates imagination, the magic of friendship, and all the different ways we make a new place feel like home.

For Ren, home is his grandmother's little house, and the lush forest that surrounds it. Home is a place of magic and wonder, filled with all the fantastical friends that Ren dreams up. Home is where his imagination can run wild.

For Ava, home is a brick and cement city, where there's always something to do or see or hear. Home is a place bursting with life, where people bustle in and out like a big parade. Home is where Ava is never lonely because there's always someone to share in her adventures.

When Ren moves to Ava's city, he feels lost without his wild. How will he ever feel at home in a place with no green and no magic, where everything is exactly what it seems? Of course, not everything in the city is what meets the eye, and as Ren discovers, nothing makes you feel at home quite like a friend.

Inspired by the stories her father told her about moving from Puerto Rico to New York as a child, Zara Gonzalez Hoang's author-illustrator debut is an imaginative exploration of the true meaning of "home."

Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

PreS-Gr 1--Inspired by her father's childhood stories of moving from Puerto Rico to New York City, Hoang tells the tale of a boy who departs his house near the jungle for big city life. Instead of glorious nature to feed his imagination, he's faced with cement, noise, and cacophony. His new friend--spirited, city-loving Ava--shares new sources for fantasies with him, like basement shadow puppetry and splashing in hydrants. She ultimately wins him over with a rooftop view of buildings covered in fanciful murals and filled with imaginary aliens and dinosaurs. Watercolors, colored pencils, and Photoshop bring both worlds alive in brilliantly hued illustrations. VERDICT This will be helpful for compare-and-contrast discussions as well as conversations about moving from one country to another.--Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

Booklist Review

Illustrator Hoang offers up a story about friendship and change. Change can be scary, but, if open to new experiences, new friends can be easily made. Ren is from a land filled with nature: where plants and trees are abundant, where fireflies dance in the dark, and where tree frogs sing at night. But everything changes when Ren and his mother move to the city. His new neighbor Ava is thrilled to show him the city's beauty, but she must work to open his eyes as Ren can only remember what he left behind. Together, the two venture into a world of imagination depicted in full color. This is a lovely read for children experiencing displacement or changes in habitat who are struggling to adapt or are dealing with loneliness. Endearing illustrations in every spread express the promise of friendship. Pair with Natalie Becher and Emily France's Krit Dreams of Dragon Fruit (2020) and Kate McMullan's As Warm as the Sun (2019).

Kirkus Book Review

When a child moves to the city, he misses the friendly sounds of the rainforest in Puerto Rico.Ren lives with his mother and grandmother on the fringes of el Yunque, the rainforest in Puerto Rico. There, his days are "filled with green and dirt and rocks and mud." It's an idyllic "place of endless possibility, where anything he imagined became real," and so Ren plays with dragons, unicorns, fairies, and kings, and he goes to sleep to the croaks of the coqus. All this changes when he moves with his mother to the city. Its loud mechanical sounds crowd his head and leave no room for wild, making him feel lonely. Meanwhile, Ava, a girl who lives upstairs, is "never lonely. She loved her building and she loved her city." So when Ren tells her why he's not happy, Ava is determined to make him see the city with different eyes. With her encouragement, Ren eventually finds in the city "a new kind of wild," proving that friendship often goes a long way toward curing homesickness. Hoang's color-filled illustrations incorporate fanciful views of mythical creatures into the rainforest and equally whimsical robots and ETs into the very diverse city as Ren learns to see with Ava's eyes. Ren and his family are white; Ava and her family are black; all characters seem to be Latinx.A wise and gentle lesson on making and helping friends. (Picture book. 5-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Zara Gonzalez Hoang grew up in a little bungalow in the frozen tundra of Minnesota. great white North. Surrounded by snow she spent her days dreaming, doodling, and listening to the colorful stories of her dad's life growing up in Puerto Rico.These days, she lives outside DC with her family.