INTO THE WILDERNESS

Backpacking trips teach life lessons.

On the face of it, this is a story about an East Asian–presenting family’s yearly journeys into the mountains. They enjoy their time together and appreciate the flora, fauna, and landscapes. As their child grows, the little one proves capable of carrying a backpack and mastering map skills. But the deeper message concerns what can be learned in the wilderness: quiet, bravery, confidence, strength, how to carry both fear and wonder, and how to refuse to carry things that cause sadness, like loneliness. And when the world gets to be too much, the wilderness can do the carrying, sharing its strength. All of this is related in lyrical language that evokes nature and in relatable snippets of kid life. The lengthy backmatter offers an in-depth discussion of the term wilderness and notes that it differs from Indigenous people’s conception of the topic. Iverson also considers wilderness protection and provides additional facts and ideas for being a good steward. Zhang’s digital illustrations use perspective masterfully to trace the family’s wanderings in the great outdoors, scratchy textures in the art bringing to mind sticks and pine needles. Facial expressions and body language are spot-on—younger children could tell a tale of their own just from the pictures. No matter your age, after reading this, you can’t help but think that the world would be better if we all went out in the wilderness more.

Break out the backpacks.