Wild Wisdom: A Warthog's Tale

by Laurada Byers, Natalie Hays Stewart (Artist), Stewart Williams (Designer)

From an early age, Laurada Byers questioned her sense of self. A series of crises including the murder of her husband while she stood mere feet away, and bouts with cancer, Parkinson’s and PTSD, cast that doubt in a new, terrifying urgency. Suddenly, instead of feeling daunted by endless possibility, Laurada became paralyzed by a fear that she had no choice- she was always destined for tragedy. Revisiting key turning points at various life stages, Laurada came to realize that her afflictions were not in fact the defining moments of her life. Where she ultimately finds freedom is in her reactions to these traumatic events. Laurada reveals how she found her footing through grief, and discovered her true identity in her resilience. Her story is captured through the movements of a scrappy warthog on the ruthless African savanna – who, full of warts and full of flaws, climbs out of it's hole to face life head on-- with tail up. Wild Wisdom—A Warthog’s Tale is a beautifully illustrated graphic memoir that describes an uncommon life and the universal epiphanies that emerged from its hardships. Filled with humorously digestible visions of personal transformation, inspiration for overcoming obstacles, and love after loss, its rare honesty and grit is motivation for anyone who’s ever wallowed in the mud (and sometimes even enjoyed it).

84 pages, Paperback

Published February 14, 2019

Reviews

[Kristine Circenis]

3 stars. Received this ARC for review purposes - thank you!

This short book has beautiful illustrations of warthogs in a myriad of contexts, usually with one of the Big Five (explanation in book). However, my enjoyment ends with the illustrations. It’s not clear to me exactly who this book is for. The nuggets of wisdom aren’t really lessons or actionable advice, more so “here is this bad thing that happened to me and here is what I did after.”

[Wayne McCoy]

'Wild Wisdom: A Warthog's Tale' by Laurada Byers with illustrations by Natalie H. Stewart is a book of wisdom interspersed with wildlife drawings.

I don't know what to make of this book. At times it feels like advice, and other times it feels like a personal memoir meant for a specific audience. There is not a lot of text and it's a quick read.

The illustrations are really nice, showing mainly warthogs in the wild. They do somewhat illustrate the main sections of the book.

[Nika Martinez]

*** REVIEW TO COME ***

[Russell]

Wonderful book with great anecdotes about the ups and downs of life, and amazing illustrations that accompany each one!

[Paul]

I liked this. It's really just nice illustrations with very short statements containing wisdom (or good reminders), and some humor. Unfortunately, this is one I wouldn't keep for very long simply because I didn't get any "a-ha" like I should with a self help book. But if you're seeking a light, enjoyable read, this should fit the bill nicely.

I really appreciate the advanced copy for review!

[J.D. DeHart]

Wild Wisdom is an entertaining assembly of image and text. The words in the book are often taken from popular sayings, sometimes with a twist, and humorously arranged with beautiful illustrations. Entertaining, and well done!

[Ryan]

This book seems to be a fundraiser for the Russell Byers Charter School. For that is a good thing. For anything else, ehhhhhh. It’s quite long. I thought it was going to be a fun story to read in class, however it is like someone sitting around telling you how things used to be and how you can make it that way too. It’s not bad, and as a fundraiser I would buy it, but not for anything else.