Logo: Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma‘s Journey Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma's Journey

For two young mountain lion brothers born in central California, where cityscape meets the wilderness, life isn’t easy. Soon after their mother leaves them to fend for themselves, a dominant male puma attacks, sending them running. The brother who dashes across a treacherous highway is hit by a truck and killed. The brother who hides up a tree survives. And so the journey begins.

Cover Art: Illustration of a young mountain lion, forest and highway in the background

Order Today

Support small businesses and order from your local bookstore!

Find a local bookstore

Subscribe to receive updates by email!

“An engaging book that will give kids a feel for current issues in our natural environment and draw attention to the controversies of humans versus nature happening right in their own backyard.”
– New York Journal of Books

“Rich, wide-ranging reading for budding naturalists.”

– Kirkus Reviews
Illustration: C-8, the mountain lion, hiding within vegetation

Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma’s Journey follows the lone brother, who local scientists tag as C-8, as he navigates what humans have done to the landscape.

Drawing from meticulous research, conservation scientist Tiffany Yap weaves together many diverse animal and human stories, celebrating the beauty and wonder of ecology, interconnectivity, and representation. With artist Meital Smith’s spectacular illustrations in the rich golds and earth tones of central California, this debut graphic novel inspires and teaches us what it means to share and protect this earth together.

Sample Pages

A must-read for young scientists, those who love to nerd out about biodiversity, like me, and simply anyone who cares about living in a flourishing world. Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma’s Journey sheds light on how humans and our natural world interact in both seen and unseen ways, and compassionately and inclusively teaches us how to be better stewards of wildlife and the natural environment and better caretakers for our beloved pets, livestock, and children. Together Yap and Smith remind us of two inextricable messages: When biodiversity thrives, we all thrive, and when human diversity thrives, we all thrive.
Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma's Journey will speak to all Californians for its beautiful yet haunting look into the nature that surrounds us. At the very least, it will check ‘crying because of a mountain lion’ off the literary bucket list.
A book about animals and plants? WITH PICTURES?! Yes, please! Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma's Journey is a beautifully illustrated novel with an urgent message about the survival of pumas and wildlife. Yap and Smith illuminate the important connections between human expansion and ecosystems. Easy to understand and packed with interesting facts, this book is a must-read for anyone who loves nature.
Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma's Journey is a deep dive into the lives of North America's most elusive cat. Yap and Smith bring to life the recent scientific literature about pumas in an easily accessible yet thorough novel that takes the reader through new discoveries about puma natural history, behavior, and conflict with people. I would gladly recommend this book to both newcomers to the mysterious world of the puma and to my graduate students studying puma ecology alike!
Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma's Journey combines everything that I love: animals, science, beautiful illustrations and a compelling narrative. This book is so rich in detail about the puma and its ecosystem, and I enjoyed getting a behind-the-scenes look at how scientists study them. I especially admired how Yap and Smith portray the puma's interactions with humans, showing, for example, non-violent solutions to prevent conflict with landowners, which to me demonstrates a compassion for animals and people that I rarely see in conservation stories.
Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma’s Journey is an engaging book that will give kids a feel for current issues in our natural environment and draw attention to the controversies of humans versus nature happening right in their own backyard.

Order Today

Support small businesses and order from your local bookstore!

Find a local bookstore

Subscribe to receive updates by email!

Events

Event Instagram Image: Book Talk and Hike with Tiffany Yap and Meital Smith (Register at LandPaths.org) | Saturday, July 20, 9AM-12PM | Lafferty Ranch, 2061 Sonoma Mountain Road, Petaluma, California

Book Talk & Hike w/ Tiffany Yap & Meital Smith

(Register to Attend)

9AM-12PM

Join us for a short hike and engaging book talk centered on Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma's Journey, a graphic novel by author Tiffany Yap and illustrator Meital Smith. This outing is perfect for anyone who loves a nature-oriented, enteraining and educational graphic novel, including kids ages 7 and up!

Lafferty Ranch
2061 Sonoma Mountain Road, Petaluma, California

Book Reading & Discussion with Tiffany Yap & Meital Smith (in person!) with Raty Syka

Discussing the science and art behind Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma's Journey

4PM

Book Castle and Reverberations Books present an engaging presentation by conservation scientist author Tiffany Yap, illustrator Meital Smith for their book: Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma’s Story. This debut graphic novel inspires and teaches us what it means to share and protect this earth together. It was selected for the long list for the 2024 Green Earth Book Award for Young Adult Fiction!

Moderated by comic artist Raty Syka. Raty recently completed her MFA from UCSC in Environmental Art and Social Practice. She has also published her own comic Sheep Mowers, in collaboration with Professor Haven Kiers, UC Davis.

Book Castle
443 Cortland Avenue, San Francisco, CA

Past Events

  1. Think Ink

    Book Talk and Discussion with Tiffany Yap and Meital Smith

    Seymour Marine Discovery Center
    100 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz, California
  2. Our Earth – Bay Area Book Festival Family Day

    Berkeley Public Library - Story Room
    2090 Kittredge Street, Berkeley, California
  3. Building a Climate of Empathy

    How Writers, Artists, and Scientists Use Emotion to Engage with Climate Change

    SFPL Mission Bay Branch, 2nd Floor
    960 4th St., San Francisco, CA
  4. Reading & Signing

    In Conversation with Laura Gao

    Silver Sprocket
    1018 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA
  5. Reading & Signing

    In Conversation with Tosha Comendant

    Pepperwood Preserve
    2130 Pepperwood Preserve Road, Santa Rosa, CA
  6. Portland Book Festival

    Book Signing at the Chin Music Press Table

    Portland Art Museum and Surrounding Venues in Downtown Portland
  7. Book Release Party

    Cape & Cowl Comics
    1601 Clay St, Oakland, CA
  8. P-22 Day Festival Signing

    Griffith Park
    4730 Crystal Springs Dr, Los Angeles, CA
  9. NightLife: The Art of Nature

    In Conversation with Christine Wilkinson

    California Academy of Sciences
    Golden Gate Park, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA
  10. Comix Remix Open Mic

    Silver Sprocket
    1018 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA

About the Authors

Tiffany Yap

Author

Tiffany Yap is a conservation scientist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds a doctorate in environmental science and engineering and has published studies in Science, EcoHealth, and other scientific journals. Her work has been featured in major news outlets, including the New York Times, LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and NPR.

Meital Smith

Illustrator

Meital Smith is an illustrator and artist from Seattle, Washington. She graduated from Cornish College of the Arts with a BFA in Design in 2021 and is currently pursuing an MAT at the Rhode Island School of Design. Meital's work has appeared in The Lily, and in 2021, she self-published her graphic novella Yesh Lanu Machaneh, which documents her community's experiences at her beloved summer camp, Camp Miriam.

News & Media

  1. Local ecologist’s graphic novel comes to life for East Oakland middle schoolers

    After reading about author Tiffany Yap’s book in The Oaklandside, a local teacher fundraised to bring it to his classroom in a special way.

  2. The beautiful and fraught lives of California’s mountain lions are depicted in a new graphic novel

    Local conservation biologist Tiffany Yap’s book, ‘Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma’s Journey,’ explores the interface between humans and the wild.

Videos

  • Meital Smith on illustrating Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma's Story (Part 1 of 2)
  • Meital Smith on illustrating Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma's Story (Part 2 of 2)

Order Today

Support small businesses and order from your local bookstore!

Find a local bookstore

Subscribe to receive updates by email!