The Wild Way Home

A heart warming tale of friendship, family and facing up to the fears and anxiety we all sometimes have. 

Charlie’s new baby brother is not as healthy as hoped for and struggling with that issue is too much to bear so Charlie runs away from it,
With friends and family searching, Charlie is nowhere to be found.

Charlie has found a boy face down in the water and rescues him.  However, there is a startling difference.  The boy cannot speak the same language and is dressed differently,  The forest that Charlie knows so well is changed.  The drastic realisation is that Charlie has travelled back in time.  

From saving the boy to learning to trust each other, they set off to find the boys home and hopefully to find Charlie’s home as well.  There are wolves to contend with and a strange man with a crying baby....will Charlie make it home?

I adored the adventure and the mystery of how Charlie ended up in the Stone Age.  
What struck me most is how we deal with anxiety and fear in our lives. Charlie decided to run away but realised that talking and listening would be been more helpful.  Charlie learns a huge lesson and with the help of family and friends can learn to face the fears and anxiety over baby brothers heart problems,

Brilliant and perfect for young adventurers!

I really enjoyed reading The Wild Way Home. It’s a carefully, clearly written time slip story set in a vividly drawn landscape. There’s a great mix of adventure, peril & thoughtful plotting too that will keep young readers really engaged. The ‘family unity in the midst of adversity & loss’ message was lightly handled so that this didn’t feel like an ‘issues’ book or too obviously moralistic either which can be a difficult path to tread with this age group. I think fans of Podkin One Ear, The Storm Keeper’s Island, Varjak Paw & Ross Welford’s books would be naturally drawn to this

I couldn’t put this book down. It is a fabulous adventure set in the Stone Age, with a lot to say about family, love, commitment and courage. The author beautifully contrasts life in the past with the same setting in the present and wove it all through with elements of folklore. Through his adventure into the past, Charlie discovers that the nature of family relationships haven’t changed that much over time and the bonds that held people together are essentially the same, whether they live in a cave or a house. Beautifully written.