The third in the Willow Wildthing series has been published this month. (Oxford University Press)
Fab illustrations by Rebecca Bagley
This series follows a group of children where they have adventures in a piece of urban wasteland, they call the Wilderness. The Wilderness is the gardens and grounds of an old house that burned down many years ago. The wild has reclaimed it, and when the children play there, they become a bit feral and call themselves the Wild Things. Their imagination stretches time and distance, blurring reality and their imagined worlds.
In book 1: Willow Wildthing and the Swamp Monster – we see Willow have her first adventures in the Wilderness and grow to love this wild space.
In book 2: Willow Wildthing and the Dragon’s Egg – we see Willow understand the importance of wildlife having wild space to live. She and the Wildthings also meet another group of feral children in the Wilderness and they have to decide if they can work together to look after their special place.
In book 3: Willow Wildthing and the Shooting Star – Although the rain has washed away the Wild Things’ camp, it won’t stop them enjoying a meteor shower – but when three shooting stars fall from the sky, Willow gets more than she wished for.
I wanted to write this story about the magic of night-time outdoors and sharing stories and explorer bread around a campfire, and stargazing.
The Wild Things watched the last golden rays of sun turn the western sky from red to orange to pale greenish yellow. Willow tucked her hands into her sleeves as the chill night air crept around them. As the moon rose, it cast a silver light over the rooftops and gardens. It was big and round and bright. The sky became deep indigo, and the world below lost its colours and became shades of blue. Silvery snail trails criss-crossed the wet grass. Diamond beads of dew hung on cobwebs. A bat flitted through the sky chasing a moth, and from inside the wilderness an owl called into the night.
Willow let her eyes adjust to the darkness and listened out the new sounds.
Nightfall revealed a different world that was hidden by day.
Moonrise was magical.
I hope you enjoy the new Willow story x
