Wild

I finally got around to reading Wildwood by Colin Meloy (of The Decemberists). I've been looking forward to this read for a long time, Colin Meloy is one of my favorite songwriters, I love going into the other world of vengeful sailors and class torn lovers and gypsy queens that The Decemberists create. Another plus about this book is that it was illustrated by his wife, Carson Ellis, who is one of my favorite illustrators. She does all of the dreamy cover art for the Decemberists albums and illustrated the Mysterious Benedict Society (which I mysteriously never finished).
So I definitely had high expectations for this book. I liked it, but I think my expectations may have been too high. Maybe if it had been shorter, Meloy could have focused more on the creative wordplay and character development that he's excellent at. (Yeah, character development in songs.) Instead the book was 500+ pages. I don't have patience for long books unless they are totally enthralling. Unfortunately, this book wasn't.
I still liked it though. It was pleasant, I liked the cute characters, I liked the theatrical feel of it all. I liked that it took place in Portland and the wilderness beyond. I loved imagining Prue riding her bike through my neighborhood, I can totally see her going to the weird environmental school by my house. I'm going to love letting my children read this and let them imagine that they're in the story.
Oh and the illustrations? Exceeded expectations. There are color illustrations on nice paper throughout the book, truly lovely.
Anyways, I'm off to start a new book series which I'm kind of scared about: I have a lot of homework to do and word is that they're completely addicting.