This is a real adventure book, so be careful not to get too lost between its pages...The Vasylenko family are adventurers. They all love the wet and the wild, the thrill of exploring the outside world. All that is ... except Oktober. He prefers the warm and safe comfort of the inside world, and for his adventures to take place between the pages of a book. But tomorrow, Oktober has to join his family on a trek into the slimy, grimy and climby wild, where he sees only danger and worry and fears a creature called "The Wilderness"! Failing to keep his wits about him could be dangerous though - it may even get him a bit ... lost. But perhaps getting lost is just what Oktober needs to find himself and maybe even make an unexpected friend.The Wilderness is a wild and wondrous story of true bravery and discovering friendship in the most unexpected of places, perfect for adventurers and the more timid alike.

Autorentext

Steve McCarthy is an Irish designer, illustrator, and bearded gentleman. His debut author-illustrator title, The Wilderness, won the **KPMG Children's Books Ireland Awards 2023 Honour award for illustration and was shortlisted for a Carnegie Medal for Illustration. He illustrated Beanie the Bansheenie by Eoin colfer, which won the 2025 KPMG Children's Books Ireland Awards Honour Award for Illustration and was shortlisted for the 2024 An Post Irish Book Award and the 2025 English 4-11 Picture Book Awards. Steve comes from working as a background designer, most notably for the animated feature film Song of the Sea, which was nominated for an academy award in 2015. He lives in southeast London. Find Steve online at www.mrstevemccarthy.com, and on Twitter and Instagram as @mrstevemccarthy.

Klappentext

From a thrilling new illustration talent, comes an absorbing and intricately illustrated book that celebrates the great outdoors and all the learning opportunities (and maybe a leafy monster or two...) in nature for children.

Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration and the UKLA Book Award, and winner of the KPMG Children's Books Ireland Awards 2023 honour award for illustration.

Praise for The Wilderness:
**- "A true triumph; deserves pride of place on every bookshelf." - Just Imagine

• "A story filled with optimism, family love, heart-warming happiness, a magical read taking us on an unexpected adventure, presenting a challenge. Beautiful." - *Armadillo Magazine

• "There is so much detail in this wonderful book that something new will be picked up with each read." - *Books of 2022, Irish Examiner

- "Everything about this book roars "epic!" [...] The attention to detail is astonishing. It's very much a book that lends itself to being read again and again, following a different path, and character, each time." - Children's Books Ireland

The Vasylenko family are adventurers. They all love the thrill of exploring the outside world. All that is ... except Oktober. He prefers the warm and safe comfort of the inside world, and for his adventures to take place between the pages of a book.

But, one day, Oktober has to join his family on a trek into the slimy, grimy and climby wild, where he sees only danger and worry and fears a creature called "The Wilderness"! Failing to keep his wits about him could be dangerous though - it may even get him a bit ... lost. But perhaps getting lost is just what Oktober needs to find himself and maybe even make an unexpected friend...