Wild Girl and Gran

Anne Hutchings, a former elementary-school teacher-librarian with the
Durham Board of Education, is an educational consultant.

Wild Girl and Gran is the story of a powerful love and friendship that
develops between a granddaughter and her grandmother.

Wild Girl is alone in her tree with only her imagination for company,
until the day Gran moves in. Soon, the two become partners in
imagination and adventure, allies, “kindred spirits.” But their time
together is, sadly, all too short. Gran becomes ill and dies, leaving
Wild Girl alone and desolate. Mother tries to help, but Wild Girl misses
Gran.

Then one spring day, Mother and Wild Girl walk into the woods to
scatter Gran’s ashes. As Mother begins to tell stories of her
childhood, Wild Girl realizes that Mother loved Gran as much as she did.
Together they will survive their loss.

Ron Lightburn’s stunning illustrations complement perfectly Nan
Gregory’s simply and gracefully told story. The muted colors have an
almost luminous quality to them and effectively evoke the changing
seasons and feelings in the story. Gregory’s inclusion of a
mini-glossary of the plants mentioned in the story is an added bonus.
Highly recommended.