IN THE WILD

Celebrated literary spouses Smith and Laird follow up their debut picture book, The Surprise (2022), with another tale of Maud the spirited, judo-loving guinea pig.

As Maud’s owner, Kit, frets about an upcoming school camping trip, her pets privately agree with her misgivings. Dad reassures her, “It’ll all be over before you know it,” but Maud remembers he said the same thing about an injection at the vet’s office. So she stows away in Kit’s backpack; after all, Kit will surely need a friend. But when Maud arrives at camp, Kit’s nowhere to be found. Perhaps Maud’s the one who needs a pal, and she soon finds one in Harvey the hedgehog, who teaches her all about forest survival. Fox’s endearing cartoon art depicts anthropomorphized, friendly-faced animals: Maud sports her customary martial arts uniform, and both she and Harvey walk upright. Mixing vignettes, panels, and full-page spreads, the illustrations draw clever parallels between Kit’s and Maud’s activities: As Kit and the other kids traverse a rope course, Maud and Harvey walk across a log, and as the campers sit by a roaring bonfire, the animals gather around their own, teeny-tiny fire. Though the text is on the wordy side, it pairs well with the art; the forest facts Harvey imparts and the information on camping easily mesh with the more whimsical elements. Kit is biracial: her mother presents Black, while her father is pale-skinned.

A lighthearted and quirky walk through the woods.