Environmental Books for Children: Reviews

  Broken Ground   Written by Lu Hersey Cover Design by Rhi Winter Published by Beaten Track Publishing, 2022   My heart sinks. It’s real. There’s no avoiding this. Ma was right to be worried. Andraste chose me. I’m the one she expects to pay the forfeit.   My first review for 2023 (and post-surgery read, as it happens) is Lu Hersey’s eco-thriller  Broken Ground . I became aware of Hersey following the publication of her highly-praised  Deep Water , and her latest novel certainly continues in the atmospheric, mythical vein of her debut.    The story centres on the struggles of Arlo, a teenage boy who lives with his mother and suffers seizures. The farm they used to live on is now owned by the hostile Phelps, who wants to move Arlo and his mother out of their cottage so he can turn it into a holiday let. Phelps is also hoping to find shale gas beneath the farmland, and has hired a company to investigate the potential for this by test drilling, which...

The Greatest Show on Earth   Written & illustrated by Mini Grey Published by Penguin Random House Children’s, UK, 2022   I wanted to tell the whole 4.6 billion years roller-coaster ride story of life on Earth in one book, so my readers could see ALL of this amazing and incredible story.    So writes Mini Grey, winner of the Kate Greenaway medal, when introducing her first non-fiction book for children on her website and she does so with such great humour, heart and honesty. It’s a lively celebration of this unique world of ours that doesn’t shy away from the truth regarding the profound impact humans have had in such a short space of time and the likelihood of a future world without us.    It’s absolutely right that the story is told by Rod, a cockroach, and his Troupe of insects in the world-famous Shoebox Theatre on a monstrous mountain of rubbish sometime in the future, when humans are no more and a slow re-wilding of the trashed planet is taking pla...

  Play the Forest School Way   Written by Jane Worroll & Peter Houghton Published by Watkins, 2016   May’s environmental read for children is a non-fiction text that explores nature-based play in the Forest School tradition, and is written by two Level 3 Forest School leaders. It can be read by adults looking to inspire children to learn and play in an outdoor setting or by children themselves. It offers many ideas for groups of different sizes or individuals and can be used in schools or for providing opportunities for family time and days out, ‘whether your local woodland is a forest or a strip of trees along the edge of an urban park.’ It’s perhaps a surprising boast that the book was the first one to share Forest School games, crafts and skill-building activities with families and friends on its publication, considering the Forest School concept has been around in the UK since 1993.   The text is divided into four sections: Nature Explorers, Forest Arts, Surv...

  Every Leaf a Hallelujah   Written by Ben Okri Illustrated by Diana Ejaita Published by Head of Zeus, 2021   When I was a child I knew that trees were more important than money. Trees make us happy. Can you imagine a world without them?    So asks Ben Okri in the introduction to his first book for children, an environmental fairytale for our times that gives a voice to the trees which surround us and takes us on a child’s quest to save her dying mother; a mission which leads her to discover a great tragedy that faces a world whose trees continue to be savagely wiped out.   In the forest near Mangoshi’s village in Africa there grows a very special flower that possesses healing qualities. The young girl knows that only this flower can save her mother’s life. All she has to do is find it. In search for it, she discovers there are many pathways through the woods and overhears the trees whispering among themselves. But unable to locate the flower initially she ...

  The Song That Sings Us   Written by Nicola Davies Illustrated by Jackie Morris Published by Firefly, 2021   When animals speak, it’s time humans listened.   This is the central message of zoologist, presenter and writer Nicola Davies’ upper middle-grade, environmental tale,  The Song That Sings Us . With beautiful cover and chapter illustrations by the award-winning, instantly-identifiable Jackie Morris, the book weaves a powerful tale that never preaches, but instead acts as a rallying call and offers hope at a time when it’s most definitely needed, all delivered in a cracking adventure story.  The first thing that jumped out at me was the poetry of the title, which perfectly captures that thing that connects us all, both humans and the natural world. Songs have always carried the greatest, most direct messages; they are acts of communication and communal union that have evolved in line with the world they depict and colour, connecting their voices with ...

    Wild Child: A Journey Through Nature Written by Dara McAnulty Illustrated by Barry Falls Published by Macmillan, 2021   My January recommendation is  Wild Child  by the naturalist Dara McAnulty, winner of the 2020 Wainwright Prize for his memoir  Diary of a Young Naturalist . McAnulty takes you by the hand and leads you along a glorious, brimming nature path from garden to woods and onto uplands and down rivers in this picture-book-sized guide poem, sharing his love and passion for all that is wild on the journey. Further brought to life by the illustrator Barry Falls’ vibrant fonts and double-page illustrations of an alive-and-kicking world, featuring stunning depictions of birds and bugs, this book is pitched perfectly for a primary school audience primed by the success of a clear ancestor to the book,  The Lost Words .   The book is divided into five sections: Windows To See The World Through, The Garden, The Woods, Going Upland and The Riv...

Lore of the Wild: Folklore and Wisdom from Nature    Written by Claire Cock-Starkey Illustrated by Aitch Published by Wide Eyed Editions, 2021   In a time when the role of narrative, storytelling and folklore in shaping our relationship with nature is gathering increasing interest, my November recommended environmental read for children   takes us on a well-travelled journey through the nature lore of many different places and cultures. Nature lore, or traditional nature folklore, gives us insight into how our ancestors interacted with the world around them and allows us to view nature from a new perspective, and in some circumstances helps us nurture empathy and a love of the natural world. In terms of lore, this fascinating book offers a mixture of the familiar, such as the bad luck associated with seeing a single magpie, and the lesser known, for example how in Japanese folklore the giant dragon-headed beetle known as Jinshin-mushi is said to burrow under the eart...

Harklights Written and illustrated by Tim Tilley Published by Usborne, 2021   The October book in my series of recommended environmental reads for children is  Harklights . Winner of the Joan Aiken Future Classics Prize, this debut middle grade novel will appeal to fans of Piers Torday’s  Wild  books as well as Melissa Harrison’s BB-inspired  By Ash, Oak and Thorn  and it’s follow up  By Rowan and Yew . A teacher of children’s book illustration at City Lit in London, Tilley’s accompanying pictures beautifully compliment this magical story celebrating family, friendship and the natural world; a story that reminds us of the power of nature and our role in maintaining and preserving the environment around us.     Protagonist Wick is a resident of the ghastly Harklights Match Factory and Orphanage, where he works tirelessly for menacing Old Ma Bogey. He spends his time dreaming of escape until one day a bird drops something incredible at his...

City of Rust Written by Gemma Fowler Illustrated by Karl James Mountford Published by Chicken House, 2021   Whereas the previous two books I reviewed in my series of recommended environmental reads for children are rooted in nature lore, the September offering is definitely one for the science fiction enthusiasts among us. Gemma Fowler’s  City of Rust  follows on from  Moondust  and is her first middle-grade story for children aged 9+. This dystopian novel will appeal to fans of  Star Wars  as well as stories such as Peter Bunzl’s  Cogheart  series and Pádraig Kenny’s  Tin . Readers will be immediately drawn to the eye-catching cover design by Karl James Mountford that features the main character’s bio-robotic pet gecko, hinting at a junkyard world where waste is harnessed.   An understanding of the setting is key and a diagram of the various Spheres and the Soup at the start of the book is a helpful addition. The author describes a...

The Wild Before Written by Piers Torday Illustrated by Thomas Flintham Published by Quercus Children's Books, 2021 The second book to be reviewed in my series of recommended environmental reads for children is Piers Torday’s The Wild Before . If like me you were enthralled by his Last Wild series, this latest addition to the saga is essential reading. A prequel to the initial trilogy, the book narrates the arrival of the pandemic that’s set to ravage the world. The arrival of the legendary Mooncalf has been foretold, and according to a prophecy that's been passed down in a dream from animal to animal, if the calf dies, the Terribleness will come in the form of rising seas, a plague, skies raining down fire, and ultimately the end of everything. It falls on the slight, furry shoulders of Little-Hare to persuade the animals to protect Mooncalf at all costs.   It’s a story that weaves folklore, suspense and fine descriptions of nature into a narrative that has at its heart some o...

  By Ash, Oak and Thorn  Written by Melissa Harrison Illustrated by Lauren O'Hara Published by Chicken House, 2021   This is a story about three tiny, ancient beings: Moss, Burnet and Cumulus. Known as the Hidden Folk and once celebrated as guardians of the Wild World, they wake from winter hibernation in their cherished ash tree home in a world where Mortals now have authority over the creatures and places that the Hidden Folk once cared for. When a terrible storm topples the ash tree, they set off on an adventure to try and find more of their kind. It’s a journey which takes them both deep into the countryside and into the heart of a city, known as the Mortal Hive. There is great concern along the way. Both Cumulus and Burnet experience disappearing limbs in response to the changing world, a world where Mortals are no longer aware of the secret world of wild creatures and don’t speak their language, Wild Argot. It’s from this that a central message of the book springs: ...