Wildwood

Wildwood is a 2011 children's fantasy novel written by Colin Meloy and illustrated by Carson Ellis, his wife. Meloy is the lead singer and songwriter for the folk-rock band The Decemberists. Ellis created album cover art for her husband’s band and provided more than 80 illustrations for Wildwood. Her artwork employs a dark but whimsical tone and has been compared to Edward Gorey.

Wildwood was a New York Times best seller and won the 2012 Middle Reader E.B. White Read-Aloud Award. Optioned by the animation studio Laika in 2001, the book is appropriate for children age 8 and above and is also marketed to adult fans of children’s literature. It is the first in the Wildwood Chronicles trilogy, followed by Under Wildwood (2013) and Wildwood Imperium (2015).

The plot involves a young girl’s attempts to save her baby brother Mac after a murder of crows airlifts him into the mysterious Impassable Wilderness. The heroine named Prue is joined by her classmate, Curtis. As the two navigate the realm of the Wood, they encounter talking animals, mystics who speak to plants, and an evil witch who wants to kill Mac to further her scheme to conquer the Wood.

The story is told by a limited third-person narrator from the viewpoints of Prue and Curtis. Their experiences in the Wood illustrate the principle of nature as a sentient entity whose every component is worthy of respect. The book also explores the themes of outcasts, the quest to belong, and what constitutes good government.

Plot Summary

Twelve-year-old Prue is out doing errands with her baby brother Mac when she sees a flock of crows lift him out of his Radio Flyer wagon. Prue chases the birds on her bicycle until they disappear into a mysterious stretch of woods known as the Impassable Wilderness. It is said that no one ever returns from that place. Despite its daunting reputation. Prue is determined to go into the wilderness and recover Mac. Curtis, one of her classmates, tags along on the quest.

Once they pass into the wilderness, the two children come upon a band of coyotes in military uniform who can speak. Curtis is caught by the coyotes, but Prue escapes and is picked up by Richard, the Postmaster General. He explains that Prue has somehow breached the Periphery Bind spell that keeps Outsiders from entering the realm known as the Wood. The Wood is divided into four parts: South Wood, where merchants live; North Wood, where farmers live; the Avian Principality, where birds live; and Wildwood, where outcast bandits live.

Richard takes Prue to South Wood to ask the authorities to help find her missing brother. The governor and his cronies are corrupt and view Prue as a threat. She is soon forced to flee for her life to North Wood. At the same time, Curtis is taken to Wildwood, where he meets the banished Dowager Governess named Alexandra. Curtis discovers that she has struck a deal with the invasive ivy. In exchange for Mac’s blood, the plants will consume the entire Wood, leaving Alexandra as supreme ruler.

After many harrowing adventures, Prue and Curtis reunite to lead a group of bandits and North Wood militia to defeat Alexandra’s coyote army and unseat the corrupt government of South Wood. The story ends with the promise of a better future for all the inhabitants of the Wood.