The Wildest Thing: A Picture Book to Spark Your Grandchild’s Imagination
Ages 3 – 7
Emily Winfield Martin’s luminous new picture book is an ode to the untamed wonder of childhood — and a quiet gift for the grandparent who still remembers.
“What would you do if you let the wild in?”
That’s the quiet, irresistible question at the heart of Emily Winfield Martin’s newest picture book, The Wildest Thing — and if you’re shopping for a book to share with the little one in your life, the answer is simple. Buy it. Read it. Watch what happens.
Martin, the #1 New York Times bestselling creator of The Wonderful Things You Will Be, has returned with a book that feels like a secret whispered between generations. It’s about a girl named Eleanor. It’s about the wildness we’re all born with. And it’s about what happens when we remember.
A story every child already knows
Eleanor loved wild things — “every wing and wild sprout.” She watches the rabbits, the deer, and the butterflies. And there is something wild inside of her, too, waiting to come out.
What unfolds across the pages is pure magic. Eleanor pounces and hops. She prowls around the room. She flips, flops, and unfurls. She blooms. The language is simple, the rhythm read-aloud perfect, and the moment your grandchild understands what Eleanor is doing — becoming an animal, a flower, a butterfly, whatever her imagination dreams up — the book becomes theirs.
Why Emily Winfield Martin’s illustrations are the reason
Martin’s work is instantly recognizable: soft, dreamy, watercolor-warm, with tender faces and gentle animals that feel both contemporary and timeless. If you already have The Wonderful Things You Will Be on your grandchild’s shelf, you know the feeling — like walking into a painting.
In The Wildest Thing, she gives us a cast of woodland creatures — a bear, a swan, a fox, a deer, a turtle, a snail — each rendered with the kind of quiet attention that rewards a slow second look. One of my favorite spreads shows Eleanor leading a parade through the forest, every animal trailing gently behind her. It’s the kind of page you’ll find yourself studying long after your grandchild has fallen asleep against your shoulder.
Who this picture book is for — and when to read it
The Wildest Thing is perfect for ages 3 to 7, though younger toddlers will be captivated by the illustrations, and older children may return to it for comfort. The pacing is ideal for bedtime: slow, rhythmic, soothing. But it also works for a quiet afternoon, a rainy Sunday, or any moment when you want to share something beautiful with a small person
A word to grandparents: this one’s for you, too. There’s something about reading it aloud that gets you remembering — when your own children were small, when you were small. Martin has a way of making us all a little wild again. (If you’re building that bedtime ritual from the ground up, don’t miss our 9 proven ways to create a love of reading from infancy.)
Why I recommend it
As someone who writes picture books, I know how hard it is to make something feel this simple. In a good book, simple means true. The Wildest Thing celebrates what makes childhood magical — the untamed spark of wonder, creativity, and fearless individuality that lives within every little one. And in the gentlest possible way, it reminds grown-ups that the wild thing inside us never really leaves.
If this one lands with you and your grandchild, you’ll want to see our other favorite spring picture books — including Martin’s own Wonderful Seasons.
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