Friday, October 4, 2013

Wild and Woolly by Mary Jessie Parker

Wild and Woolly by Mary Jessie Parker, illustrated by Shannon McNeill

Rating: 4 stars

Do opposites attract?  These two do.

When my trio and I looked at the cover of this book, we each independently thought that the book was about a goat and a sheep.  We were wrong.  The book is about two sheep--a sleek and strong bighorn sheep from the hills and a white, fluffy sheep from the meadow.  They bump into each other while exploring the fringe of their own existence.  They are both curious about each other, and surprised to hear that the other is a sheep.

Instead of being sure that the other is wrong and turning around and returning to their own comforting zone, they are open to exploring the other's world.  (Such a childhood thing that being truly open is...)  First, Woolly the sheep takes Wild the bighorn to his land, and he wonders where he hides when wolves come (and completely freaks out when the sheep dog comes to visit).  He's sure that his home is better, and invites Woolly up to his place.

They climb and climb and climb and climb up and up and up and up--Woolly is pretty pooped by the time they get there.  He loves the view (basically of his own home) of his rocky home but then gets utterly stuck in a clump of prickly bushes.  Woolly is distraught; Wild slowly and carefully gnaws on the branches to set her free.

Woolly's life is not for Wild, and Wild's life is not for Woolly.  Not permanently, that is.  But they decide to stay friends (and, I add, appreciate the differences and learn from each other).

A nice book on friendship while we're still at the start of a school year!

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