'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.

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.”

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!

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.

Short but thought-provoking (and apparently self-published) work that straddles the line between memoir and book of inspirational quotations. There's not enough here to really get to know the author and subject of the memoir, but there's more than enough to be intrigued and perhaps inspired. Wherever you are Laurada, I hope you continue to grow and overcome.

I very much sympathized with the writer while I was reading this piece of literature. My favorite quote is: “After my spouse died, there was no law saying I must remain on my side of the bed. Live dangerously. Try the middle.”

I also enjoyed the illustrations in this book, as well. I think my biggest issue was the fact that I felt as though I could not identify just who this book is for. It was also hard to figure out the genre- self help? Memoir? I’m not really sure. I also couldn’t figure out who was saying the sentence that resided beside the illustrations, and some of them came off as a bit obscure and did not make much sense to me.

I think I would have liked more storytelling to go along with each illustration.

This was just weird. Like something in the vein of Found Art in "Ghost World." I will not be recommending this one.

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!

An admiral attempt and certainly a wonderful story but the narrative of the author does not seem to acutely match the illustrations.

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!

Laurada Byers tells painful stories that have shaped her life and how she has dealt with them through illustrations of animals. Some are sad, others are funny. It's an odd way to share stories of your life, but also interesting.