Mango the Monkey
Welcome, play and optimism
An illustrated storybook world
Billy and the Wild Forest
Twelve illustrated adventures with Billy, age seven, and the gentle animals of the Wild Forest.
Meet Billy
Meet Billy
Billy is seven years old, endlessly curious and never quite on the path she was told to follow. Every morning the Wild Forest leaves a door open for her.
Meet BillyMeet the Forest Friends
The animals who find Billy before Billy finds them.
Rumble the Tiger
Gentle strength
Sisi the Snake
Foresight and care
Bramble the Elephant
Your own rhythm
Willow the Giraffe
A quiet voice still matters
Fern the Deer
Gentleness and generosity
Pip the Fox
Curiosity and aspiration
Kiki the Bird
Communication and contribution
Nutmeg the Squirrel
Caution that can learn
Clover the Rabbit
Social courage
Ember the Horse
Courage grows step by step
Hugo the Hippo
Confidence that makes room
Luma the Pegasus
Wonder, vulnerability and finding home
Explore the 12-Book Collection
Explore the 12-Book Collection
Twelve illustrated adventures, one gentle journey — from finding where you belong all the way to finding your courage.
Billy and the Wild Forest
Billy and the Wild Forest
1. Belong
Billy and the Wild Forest
- Belonging
- Friendship
- Welcoming others
This adventure explores… Being included can change how someone feels.
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Billy and the Wild Forest
Billy and the Singing Fountain
2. Be yourself
Billy and the Singing Fountain
- Self-confidence
- Inclusion
- Being yourself
This adventure explores… Bramble discovers that he does not have to move like everybody else to belong.
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Billy and the Wild Forest
Billy and the Pawprint Mystery
3. Understand others
Billy and the Pawprint Mystery
- Empathy
- Looking beyond appearances
- Managing worries
This adventure explores… The enormous tracks feel unfamiliar until Billy wonders whether whoever made them might be feeling unsure too.
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Billy and the Wild Forest
Billy and the Winter Feast
4. Cooperate
Billy and the Winter Feast
- Cooperation
- Planning ahead
- Sharing
This adventure explores… The forest friends notice change, prepare together and make sure nobody faces winter hungry.
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Billy and the Wild Forest
Billy and Mango’s Broken House
5. Recover
Billy and Mango’s Broken House
- Resilience
- Teamwork
- Hope
This adventure explores… When Mango's home is damaged, accepting help turns a difficult setback into repair — while the living buds show that new beginnings can grow from broken things.
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Billy and the Wild Forest
Billy and the Butterfly Trail
6. Explore
Billy and the Butterfly Trail
- Curiosity
- Observation
- Shared joy
This adventure explores… Billy follows clues with attention and curiosity, discovering that sometimes the best destination is simply being together.
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Billy and the Wild Forest
Billy and the Wishing Tree
7. Share
Billy and the Wishing Tree
- Kindness
- Generosity
- Gratitude
This adventure explores… Fern gets the chance to wish for anything and chooses something everyone can share.
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Billy and the Wild Forest
Billy and the Fox Who Wanted to Fly
8. Dream
Billy and the Fox Who Wanted to Fly
- Imagination
- Trying new things
- Self-acceptance
This adventure explores… Pip's dream of flying is celebrated, but the story also lets him discover that he does not need to become someone else to have an extraordinary experience.
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Billy and the Wild Forest
Billy and Willow’s Song
9. Find your voice
Billy and Willow’s Song
- Self-expression
- Listening
- Confidence
This adventure explores… Willow's quiet voice is not a weaker version of Hugo's big one.
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Billy and the Wild Forest
Billy and the Rabbit’s First Friend
10. Make friends
Billy and the Rabbit’s First Friend
- Friendship skills
- Patience
- Social confidence
This adventure explores… Clover learns that friendship does not have to happen all at once.
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Billy and the Wild Forest
Billy and the Rainbow Pegasus
11. Help others
Billy and the Rainbow Pegasus
- Helping others
- Asking for help
- Belonging
This adventure explores… Luma is lost, says what she needs and lets new friends help her find the way home.
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Billy and the Wild Forest
Billy and the Horse Who Found His Courage
12. Find courage
Billy and the Horse Who Found His Courage
- Courage
- Persistence
- Trust
This adventure explores… Billy never tells Ember to stop being afraid.
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Two ways into the forest
Choose how to enter
Take one adventure home, or walk the whole forest together with a family membership.
One adventure
Perfect for a first visit
$9.99 one-off, per story
- One complete digital story, yours to keep
- Read on every device in your family account
- Three pages free before you decide
- Buy any story at any time
Wild Forest Family — Monthly
All 12 adventures included
$12.99 per month
- All 12 current adventures, unlocked straight away
- Character worlds, feelings and skills around released stories
- Parent–child conversation prompts after every story
- Real animal and nature discovery
- Cancel whenever you like
Best value
Wild Forest Family — Annual
A whole year in the Wild Forest
$99 per year
- Everything in monthly, for a full year together
- The monthly story journey across the year
- The full member discovery layer while membership is active
- A year to read, talk and discover together
Individual stories stay purchasable at $9.99 whether or not you join. Payments are securely processed by Dodo Payments.
For schools — classroom licences from $995 a yearFor schools
Bring the Wild Forest into school
Stories children want to enter. Conversations teachers can build on.
Wild Forest School
For a whole primary school
$995 per year, up to 300 pupils
- School-wide staff and classroom access
- All currently available Wild Forest stories for teaching use
- Learning-through-story themes with teacher-friendly conversation prompts
- Character worlds and real animal and nature discovery
Best value
Wild Forest School + Home
Classroom to kitchen table
$1,995 per year, up to 300 pupils
- Everything in Wild Forest School
- Take-home family access for parents and guardians
- Access through a grown-up account or a school-issued access mechanism
- The same story the class read, continued at home
Large school, trust or multi-site
Trusts, federations and multi-site
Custom quote custom quote
- More than 300 pupils, or several schools together
- One licence shaped around your setting
- Talk to us and we will quote properly
Annual licences cover up to 300 pupils. Payments are securely processed by Dodo Payments.
See school detailsInside membership
Stories are only the beginning.
After each adventure, children step out of the illustrated Wild Forest and into the real world — with genuine wildlife photography and warm, child-friendly facts about the animals they have just met.
- Real wildlife photography for every animal friend
- Child-friendly animal facts, written for ages 5–7
- Habitats, food, babies and special features
- “Look closer” photo prompts that reward noticing
- Words to discover, explained in one line
- Real or imaginary? comparisons, so magic stays magic
Why these stories matter
12 adventures. 12 ways to grow.
Children come for the forest. Learning travels home with them.
Every Wild Forest adventure begins with a story children can simply enjoy. Underneath the fun, Billy and her friends meet situations children recognise: feeling left out, worrying about being different, being frightened, making a first friend, finding a voice, helping someone, trying again and finding courage. The books create natural openings for grown-ups and children to talk about feelings, choices, friendship, kindness, curiosity and resilience — without turning storytime into a lesson.
- Friendship & Belonging
Noticing who is alone, making room, and beginning again together.
- Feelings & Empathy
Naming what characters feel, and wondering why they feel it.
- Confidence & Voice
Quiet voices, big voices, and the right to be heard either way.
- Kindness & Cooperation
Sharing, planning together, and choosing what helps everyone.
- Curiosity & Discovery
Following clues, asking questions and looking twice.
- Courage & Resilience
Small steps, second tries, and staying beside someone who feels unsure.
What children meet inside the stories
Billy and the Wild Forest
1Billy and the Wild Forest
Billy and the Wild Forest
- Belonging
- Friendship
- Welcoming others
Being included can change how someone feels. Billy's first adventure shows how noticing loneliness and making room for someone new can begin a friendship.
Billy and the Wild Forest
3Billy and the Pawprint Mystery
Billy and the Pawprint Mystery
- Empathy
- Looking beyond appearances
- Managing worries
The enormous tracks feel unfamiliar until Billy wonders whether whoever made them might be feeling unsure too. The mystery becomes a gentle lesson in looking again before deciding what someone is like.
Billy and the Wild Forest
9Billy and Willow’s Song
Billy and Willow’s Song
- Self-expression
- Listening
- Confidence
Willow's quiet voice is not a weaker version of Hugo's big one. The song only becomes complete when different voices are heard together.
Billy and the Wild Forest
12Billy and the Horse Who Found His Courage
Billy and the Horse Who Found His Courage
- Courage
- Persistence
- Trust
Billy never tells Ember to stop being afraid. She makes the challenge smaller and stays beside him until he is ready to take the next step.
Across the full collection the journey moves from belong → be yourself → understand others → cooperate → recover → explore → share → dream → find your voice → make friends → help others → find courage.
Story first. Then conversation. Then discovery.
Enjoy the story
The child gets the adventure first: mystery, humour, animals, friendship and imagination.
Talk about it together
Each book gives grown-ups simple questions about what a character felt, why they made a choice and what the child might do in a similar situation.
From Book 3: “Have you ever changed your mind about something after learning more?”
Discover something real
Real-world animal and nature facts sit beside the fantasy, clearly labelled, so a talking tiger stays magical while children can still learn that tigers are big cats, butterflies are insects, rabbits are lagomorphs and a pegasus is imaginary.
Every forest friend brings something different
Billy
Curiosity with courage
Billy notices how others feel, asks questions and helps without taking over. She models empathy, gentle leadership and the idea that courage can begin with one small step.
Bramble the Elephant
Your own rhythm
Bramble worries that his big feet make him wrong for the dance, then discovers the music needs exactly what makes him different.
Willow the Giraffe
A quiet voice still matters
Willow can see far across the forest yet struggles to believe her soft voice belongs. She represents quiet confidence, observation and self-expression.
Ember the Horse
Courage grows step by step
Ember does not become fearless. He learns the path gradually and builds trust, showing persistence and supported courage.
And every friend has a part to play — from Mango’s welcome and optimism to Rumble’s gentle strength, Sisi’s care, Fern’s generosity, Clover’s social courage and Luma’s wonder.
Meet what every character bringsA forest full of things to discover
The stories introduce children to monkeys, tigers, snakes, elephants, giraffes, deer, foxes, parrots, squirrels, rabbits, horses, hippos and butterflies — while the real-world cards keep factual learning separate from the characters’ magical behaviour. Children can notice animal groups, movement, tracks, seasons, sound, growth and the difference between real and imaginary creatures.
In the real world…
Tigers
Mammal · big cat
Tigers are the largest cat species.
Pawprints are clues: different animals leave different tracks.
In the real world…
Butterflies
Insect
Butterflies have six legs.
Following a sequence of clues, one after another.
In the real world…
Rabbits
Mammal · lagomorph (not a rodent)
Lagomorphs are plant-eaters.
In the real world…
Horses
Mammal · equid
Horses are plant-eaters and social animals.
Movement words to try together: walk, trot, canter, gallop, leap.
In the Wild Forest…
Pegasus
Mythical creature — not a real animal
A pegasus is imaginary: it comes from old stories, not from nature.
Why talking about stories matters
Billy and the Wild Forest has not been clinically tested as an educational intervention. The learning layer is informed by wider research on shared storybook reading and conversation with children.
Shared storybook reading and word learning
A meta-analysis of 38 studies with 2,455 children reported that shared storybook reading supported new-word learning.
View research — PubMed · PMID 29595311Picture-book sharing and language
A review and meta-analysis of 19 randomised trials with 2,594 children found that book-sharing interventions improved expressive and receptive language.
View research — PubMed · PMID 30737957Talking about emotions
Research found that discussing characters' emotions, beliefs and choices can support children's understanding of emotions and perspectives.
View research — PubMed · PMID 21426620
Stories they want to read. Conversations that stay with them.
The Wild Forest is designed to be enjoyed as a story world first. The added learning layer gives parents more: a reason to talk, notice, wonder and discover together — across twelve adventures that grow from belonging to courage.
Made for families
Original book artwork
Every page is scanned from the original illustrated books.
Swipeable reading
A real page-turning reader on phone, tablet and desktop.
Preview before you buy
Three free pages of every book, no account needed.
Multilingual
Read the stories in your family's language.
A safe family library
No ads, no feeds, no child profiles. Ever.
It began as a childhood story world
Christine King imagined the Wild Forest story world when she was young, and the early project grew into twelve illustrated books. Those original illustrated pages are the heart of this series.
Read Christine's story