Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

A worried mother primate follows her impetuous child through a jungle's pitfalls and pleasures.Comical, cartoonlike artwork combines with the rhythm and rhyme of an easy-listening text. Every phrase and every sentence begins with the word "wild," which makes it giggly fun for little ones. The mother and her androgynous child have bright orange, furry bodies that resemble orangutans, but their faces are humanly expressive. In fact, the clear link between how the mother's and child's faces are rendered and what emotions they are feeling makes this a great pick for helping children develop their emotional intelligence. Bold lines and a pastel palette create an excellent rainforest background for the mother and baby as the child fearlessly clambers around limbs and vines and the mother tries to keep up. The child's wild behavior affects other animals, including bats, elephants, a pangolin, and—uh-oh—a leopard. Careful viewers will notice that the baby had inadvertently swung from the leopard's tail, and now the leopard is following the baby. At the climax, readers will certainly guess the rhyming word to follow this sequence: "Wild danger! Wild trap! / Wild teeth about to…." The clever resolution to the inevitable "SNAP" is followed by an unexpectedly delightful ending. The artwork's thoughtful biodiversity adds a dimension beyond the theme of parent-and-child relationships.Great for preschool libraries and for bedtime at home. (Picture book. 3-6)

Horn Book (Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

An exasperated orangutan mother tries to keep up with her adventurous wild child. Simple patterned phrases--"Wild stretch. Wild yawn. Wild morning starts at dawn"--chronicle the pair's daily activities. Accompanying sherbet-toned illustrations depict an increasingly frazzled mother's efforts to keep her fearless baby safe. Parents will recognize Mama's range of hilariously horrified facial expressions, which will entertain young readers.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

A worried mother primate follows her impetuous child through a jungle's pitfalls and pleasures.Comical, cartoonlike artwork combines with the rhythm and rhyme of an easy-listening text. Every phrase and every sentence begins with the word "wild," which makes it giggly fun for little ones. The mother and her androgynous child have bright orange, furry bodies that resemble orangutans, but their faces are humanly expressive. In fact, the clear link between how the mother's and child's faces are rendered and what emotions they are feeling makes this a great pick for helping children develop their emotional intelligence. Bold lines and a pastel palette create an excellent rainforest background for the mother and baby as the child fearlessly clambers around limbs and vines and the mother tries to keep up. The child's wild behavior affects other animals, including bats, elephants, a pangolin, and—uh-oh—a leopard. Careful viewers will notice that the baby had inadvertently swung from the leopard's tail, and now the leopard is following the baby. At the climax, readers will certainly guess the rhyming word to follow this sequence: "Wild danger! Wild trap! / Wild teeth about to…." The clever resolution to the inevitable "SNAP" is followed by an unexpectedly delightful ending. The artwork's thoughtful biodiversity adds a dimension beyond the theme of parent-and-child relationships.Great for preschool libraries and for bedtime at home. (Picture book. 3-6)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Impulse control? Not for Doerrfeld-s little orangutan, who-s a -wild baby on the run!- With the baby-s increasingly frantic mother in hot pursuit (-Wild jump. Wild free./ Wild baby wait for me!--), the little monkey gets in all the other jungle families- business, including the egg-filled nest of a furious mama bird (-Wild hands on everything!-). Unbeknownst to the wee monkey-but obvious to readers-the shenanigans have roused a leopard who would love a wild baby snack. Will Mama see the threat and come to the rescue in time? And just how angry will she be? Doerrfeld-s reliance on -wild- to drive the rhyming text grows a little repetitive, but her digitally painted forest illustrations have marvelous momentum, striking the right balance between mischievous energy, little monkey glee, and the genuine seriousness of the situation. She establishes a vivid sense of place as the monkeys and the stealthy leopard move through the lush, blue-green tree canopy-and, just as in real life (as adult readers will ruefully note), she shows how everyone else in the jungle becomes transfixed by the chase. Ages 4-8. Agent: Rachel Orr, Prospect Agency. (Mar.)