book cover

The Wild Before

by Piers Torday

Interest age: 9 to 12
Reading age: 9+

Published by Quercus, 2021

  • Adventure

About this book

Little Hare doesn’t want to be a hero: he doesn’t think of himself as brave at all. But chance – or fate –  means he is the first animal to meet the moon-white calf that is born one winter’s night, and after that, his path is set.

A terrifying disease is attacking the animals and only one human can help them. To get his help, Little Hare must set off on a journey that will take him away forever from the world he has known.

This is a prequel to the Last Wild series, and although it can be read as a stand-alone, readers will probably enjoy it more if they are already familiar with the other novels. Much of the story lingers on Little Hare’s inner journey to being able to take on his mission of spreading the word.

Besides the powerful environmental message, this book would appeal to fans of animal-protagonist adventure books such as Watership Down and the Redwall series. While the story is a sad one, humorous characters, such as a pugnacious robin, lighten the mood and help make this a uniquely enjoyable book.

About the author

Piers Torday was born in Northumberland, which is possibly the one part of England where more animals live than people. After school and university he worked as a producer and writer in theatre, live comedy and TV, including developing comedy shows like Argumental for Dave and the recent  Boom Town for BBC Three.

Piers' father is the celebrated author Paul Torday, who wrote Salmon Fishing in the Yemen at the age of 59. This inspired Piers to start writing himself, and The Last Wild was born, which has now sold in over 11 countries worldwide. The sequel, The Dark Wild, was published in 2014. Piers now lives in London, where there are more animals than you might think.

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