In this book, we meet a little girl who was brought up in the forest by animals. The animals taught her how to talk, play, and eat. One day, humans find her and take her out of the forest and bring her to their home in the city.
Wild can be read as exploring the idea of a young girl being raised without the structured expectations of society, including gendered socialisation. When the psychiatrist and his wife bring the girl into “civilisation” and foist norms of behaviour on her, the girl is miserable and rebels. She eventually decides to leave, symbolically casting off that which keeps her repressed.
Edited by: Centre for Children’s Literature and Culture Studies (Ireland)