Wise Home
Wise Home Book 1
Laura Frailey (Illustrator)
Rebekah Frailey (Illustrator)
A. K. Frailey Books
ISBN 979-8994596517
eISBN 9798994596500
ASIN B0GHPP4M9N
Wow! A stunning first novel in a new series from the masterful pen of Frailey. And the debut of two illustrators.
I have read much of Ann’s work. Both her fiction and non-fiction. This book marks the fifteenth time I have read a story by her. I always look forward to when a new title is available from Frailey and this first in a new series is excellent.
The beginning of the description of this volume states:
“An enchanting family story told from an older woman’s perspective about her childhood during the years she spent on a farm with her Great Aunt Wilda on the outskirts of a midwestern town. While exploring the wonders of the woodlands, she discovered an animal community and formed friendships that taught her the meaning of wisdom and the value of home.”
About the author we are informed:
“A. K. Frailey taught elementary education in Milwaukee. WI: Chicago. IL: Los Angeles. CA; and Wood River. IL. She also trained teachers In the Philippines for the Peace Corps and later earned a Master or Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing for Entertainment from Full Sail University. Ann homeschooled all her children and currently manages her rural homestead with her family and their numerous critters. In her spare time, she serves as an election judge and secretary/treasurer or her small town's cemetery.”
About the illustrators:
“Laura Frailey graduated from Greenville University in 2025 with a BS in social work and a BA in Spanish. She completed her Master of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She enjoys painting with a variety of media. including watercolors, acrylics, and oil pastels, with a focus on the whimsical side of nature, color, and fantasy. When not creating art. she enjoys gardening and long-distance running. Wise Home is her first collection of published illustrations.”
and
“Rebekah Frailey graduated from Greenville University In 2025 with a Bachelor of
Arts in History. She enjoys drawing, painting, putting together complex puzzles,
Hiking, and running. Wise Home is her first collection of published Illustrations.”
This story is excellent. I read it one afternoon over a large mug of tea. I could not stop thinking about it so the next day I listened to it using adaptive technology and loved it even more the second time through. I have said before that Frailey’s works remind me of Madeleine L’Engle. Especially how she writes across so many genres in fiction and her non-fiction. This new offering illustrated by her daughters could easily become a children’s classic. This specific story reminded me of L’Engle’s The Twenty-four Days Before Christmas, but also of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, and but also elements of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and Richard Adams’s Watership Down. In the past I have always had mixed reaction to talking animals or anthropomorphic animals. So often it has been done badly as authors try and capture something others have done but miss the mark. That was not the case this time. Frailey did an excellent job with this story and a second has already been announced; Wise Home on Lily Pad Pond. And to be honest I hope it is a long series with many more offerings to come from the trio of Frailey ladies.
The illustrations are an interesting mix of full colour and greyscale. I would say they are a mix of watercolours, pencil sketches and maybe one of the squirrel drawings is charcoal work.
It is an interesting beginning to a story. It feels like a coming of age story. It is an intergenerational family story. And it is a magical story with talking animals. From early on we know that Great Aunt Wilda knows more than she lets on. But she allows the adventure to unfold. It is a story about friendship and learning a friends history and story even if that friend is feline, also learning about the community in the fields and woods nearby, and it is about finding your place in the world. Even if you are putting the pieces together slowly.
This was a very enjoyable story. I could not read when I was younger because of dual form of dyslexia. When I did learn to read I found all these worlds I never knew existed. And I have been addicted to reading since. This is a world I would have loved when younger, and would have even loved sharing with my children when they were younger. It is a very moving story and the beginning of what looks like a great series. This is a great book I can recommend for the young, for those who read to the young, or the young at heart! It leaves you desperate for the next instalment.
Books by A.K. Frailey:
…
Old Earth Series:
OldEarth ARAM Encounter
OldEarth Ishtar Encounter
OldEarth Neb Encounter
OldEarth Georgios Encounter
OldEarth Melchior Encounter
…
New Earth Series:
NewEarth: Justine Awakens
NewEarth A Hero's Crime
Oldtown Series:
Brothers Born
…
Non-Fiction:
My Road Goes Ever On A Timeless Journey
…
Note: Old series that got reworked into other series:
Deliverance Series:
ARAM
Ishtar's Redemption: Trial by Fire
NEB the Great: Shadows of the Past
…
Hidden Heritage Series:
Georgios
Georgios II - A Chosen People
…
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