The Wilderness

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.

Winner of KPMG Children's Books Ireland Award 2023 (Ireland) Short-listed for UKLA Book Award 2024 (UK) Short-listed for The Carnegie Medal 2024 (UK)

I find there’s an oddness and surrealism in Steve’s writing that I love and I feel he compliments that with his adventurous illustrations […] The artwork in this book is full of surprises. Fun and clever and a little different. -- Peter Donnelly Irish Independent

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 Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration. His poetry anthology with Sarah Webb, A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea was the 2017 Children’s Book of the Year at the Irish 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. , and on X and Instagram as @mrstevemccarthy.

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