The Book of Trespass by Nick Hayes. I think that whatever I read for the rest of the year, this will be my book of the year. It starts with the facts that, in England & Wales, the Countryside and Rights of Way Act gave us partial right to roam on only 8% of the land and only 3% of the waterways. We are banned from, we are trespassing if we enter, the other 92% of the land and 97% of the waterways. But we also have an epidemic of poor mental and physical health affecting vast numbers of the population, children too. And it is the poorest and most disadvantaged in our society that have the least access, living further away from areas of open access, and lacking transport or finances to afford public transport or overnight accommodation to allow them to experience these places that have been removed from our grasp.
In Scotland their Land Reform Act of 2003 allowed the right to roam, walk, camp, cycle, swim, kayak, over all land in Scotland that isn't for schools or industry or a national monument. Fundamental to this is the responsibility that comes with the ability to roam to remove rubbish, even to go for a wee the right distance from a river.
In England however, rather than teach about our responsibilities and encourage our exploration of the outdoors, we are threatened with fines, arrest, or prison, for just walking in the wrong place. And this is all because the vast majority of the land we are excluded from is privately owned, massive estates where landowners put up walls and fences and threatening signs. Even rights of way that do exist on maps are blocked from us and it is on us to report them.
Nick Hayes tells the story of all of this through a series of "trespasses", sketching what he sees and linking together the history with the present for each place. And in this way, we come to understand that actually what is now private is only so because historically various Kings gave land to various wealthy men to protect the land from the Common people. And so our Common Land became fenced off, people were no longer able to use it for grazing their cattle or meeting together.
And so, if Scotland can do it, why not England? Because land is power, and fences around land protect power. But, we need the land more for our mental and physical health and to show our children how we are ultimately so intertwined with nature that one cannot exist without the other. Once you've read this book, you have knowledge, and knowledge is power too, you can't "un-know" this...
Finally, the author tells the story of an Irish motorway that was rerouted because of an ancient tale of faeries and their sacred ground, a story as a spell that changed the world, showing us that the land doesn't belong to us, but the other way round.
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing. Find out more here - https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/book-of-trespass-9781526604729/
Nobody Told Me, Poetry and Parenthood by Hollie McNish. The author shares her poems, thoughts and reflections on pregnancy, birth, parenthood and life with a new small person called Little One. If you've had a baby, are thinking of having a baby, might have a baby sometime in the future or are related to anyone who might have a baby in the future, or if you had a baby already, this is a must read. And if you get the chance to see Hollie live reading her poetry at a venue near you, she's brilliant.
Hollie learnt a lot very quickly, and is still learning a lot.
Here's a video of her reading one of my favourite poems from the book - What's my name again? https://www.channel4.com/news/poet-hollie-mcnish-motherhood
Published by Hachette Books. Find out more here - https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/hollie-mcnish/nobody-told-me/9780349134512/
The Lost Spells by Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris. A beautiful little hardback book to hold in your hand. It's poetry to read aloud and share with children, but also a spotter guide to the nature on our doorsteps. It's the little sister publication to The Lost Words, the premise being that so many of our youngest children don't know words like Oak, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Dandelion, Gorse or Heron. It celebrates the language of nature, which needs talking about and saving, as we lose habitats and species to climate breakdown.
But in the end, we don't need a book to get us out for a little walk, inspiring children to feel awe and wonder in the natural environment. It is useful though, to point at things and give them names, and answer our children's questions.
Let's encourage the grownups to get down to the library and borrow a spotter guide or a copy of The Lost Words or The Lost Spells, and show children the wonder of the nature on our doorsteps. Published by Penguin Random House. Find out more here - https://www.thelostwords.org/lostspellsbook/
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan. A short but hard to put down novel set in small town Ireland in 1980something. The star of our story is Bill Furlong who delivers coal by day and sits by the range in the kitchen at night. But he's a thinker, and the thread running through the story is of Furlong trying to work out who he really is. Gripping and highly atmospheric. Published by @faberandfaber, shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2022. Find out more here - https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571368709-small-things-like-these/
Summerwater by Sarah Moss. 24 hours in the middle of nowhere by a Scottish loch. Log cabins occupied by holidaying families. And rain. A lot of rain. We meet the characters through their thoughts as they go about their day, running, kayaking, driving, washing up. Beautifully written, building up to an unsuspected ending. Published by Picador. Find out more here - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/aug/26/summerwater-by-sarah-moss-review
I've been reading | Tribune issue 19, The NHS 75 issue. Brilliant articles as usual, this time all about the formation amd history of the NHS, writing from people who work within it right now, interviews with Michael Rosen and Michael Marmot, the slow drip of privatisation and defunding, and a look at the future and what it might hold.
"The NHS will last as long as there are folk left with faith to fight for it" Aneurin Bevan
Published by Tribune Publishing. Find out more here - https://tribunemag.co.uk/
Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi translated from the Japanese by Geoffrey Trousselot. One that I couldn't put down. In the coffee shop in Tokyo, if you sit in one particular seat, and follow all the rules, you can go back in time. We follow the stories of a group of coffee shop regulars and staff, who have to ask themselves who they would want to meet for one last time, why, and is it worth the risk? Brilliant. And remember, return to the present before the coffee gets cold. Published by Pan Macmillan Find out more here - https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/toshikazu-kawaguchi/before-the-coffee-gets-cold/9781529029581
The Bird King and other sketches by Shaun Tan. A beautiful collection of sketches, notes, doodles and artwork from the illustrator Shaun Tan, Oscar-winning creator of The Lost thing and The Red Tree. He explains the thought process that he goes through to create his stories - mostly "taking a line for a walk" on a blank page and seeing where it leads. A lot of his work is of fantasy worlds and creatures, but it is all based on exquisite observation of the world around the artist. And his drawings and paintings of real life are stunning - especially "Dad and me". Published by Templar Books. Find out more here - https://www.shauntan.net/new-page-2
Ten Poems about Mountains, selected and introduced by Helen Mort, cover illustration by Laura Boswell. I love these little pamphlets, the premise being that they can be sent "instead of a card", as they come with an envelope, matching bookmark with space for your message, and a little sticker to seal the envelope. And they are beautifully illustrated too. This one has a mountain theme, including poems by Li Bai, Clifton Gachagua and Emily Dickinson. Mountains provide a challenge to us walkers or climbers, but they are also wonderful to look at, paint, draw, photograph or just inspire. We live in a very flat place and every holiday the mountains call us, and over the years we've walked up volcanoes in Indonesia, climbed o to a monastery in the Pyrenees, explored old volcanoes in France and the Alps in the summer. And a few times a year we walk in the mountains of South Wales, visiting family, and more recently have discovered the beauty of the Peak District, and been inspired by the Kinder Trespass. There's a poetry pamphlet for everyone among the publications from Candlestick Press, check them out here - https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/ I think this a great attempt to make poetry accessible and more readily available to all.
Published by Candlestick Press. Find out more here - https://www.candlestickpress.co.uk/pamphlet/ten-poems-about-mountains/
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. Sophia, her Grandmother and Sophia's dad spend their summers in a cabin on a little island in the Gulf of Finland. Based on a real cabin on a real island that Tove and her brother Lars built, this story tells of Sophia's relationship with her Grandmother, the adventures they have and how the island changes through the seasons, as Autumn approaches and they have to return to the mainland. One of 10 novels that Tove Jansson wrote for adults, this is beautifully descriptive as well as really funny, and you can almost imagine Grandmother rolling her eyes at Sophia. Highly recommended, from the creator of the Moomins. Published by Sort of books, originally in 1972. Find out more here - https://sortof.co.uk/tove-jansson-the-summer-book
The Mellon's build an ecohouse by Robin Jacobs and illustrated by Nik Neves. The Mellon family have outgrown their little flat, and can't find the perfect place to move into, so they decide to build their or own house. We're taken through the process from getting an architect and having ideas, choosing sustainable materials and drawing up plans, to meeting the builders and all the other professionals helping along the way. And then we see each stage of the build illustrated and described in few words, but introducing loads of new vocabulary along the way - triple glazing, heat pumps, solar panels, insulation - even in the garden with its biodiversity, compost heap and pollinating bees. "The Mellon's forever home is lean, clean and green!". This would make a great gift for a child whatever after who loves building with bricks and construction toys. Published by Cicada Books. Find out more here - https://www.cicadabooks.co.uk/books/p/the-mellons-build-a-house
Fly, Butterfly, Fly by Dom Conlon and Anastasia Izlesou. The Wild Wanderers series from Graffeg is a stunning series of picture books each focussing on one bit of the natural world. Now it's the turn of the butterflies. The plain Cabbage White goes on a journey around the world discovering just how many amazing butterflies there are. Red Admirals, Clouded Yellows, Chalk Hill Blues, and the Blue Morphos of the Amazon. But the Monarchs of South America are in trouble. The Milkweed they need for their long migration is being killed off, and the fate of the Monarchs hangs in the balance. And not just the Monarchs, many other butterflies are losing their habitats to climate change. And we have to campaign, and spread the word, and plant flowers. Did you know that the biggest butterfly in the world is the Queen Alexandra - the female can grow up to 28cm across! Published by Graffeg in July 2023. Find out more here - https://graffeg.com/products/fly-butterfly-fly
Lilly and Myles, The Torch by Jon Roberts and Hannah Rounding. Lilly's autism means she experiences the sights and sounds of new things differently, but her assistance dog Myles keeps her calm. In this story Lilly and Myles are exploring near Grandma's house by the sea, but when she drops her torch in the cave the sound it makes scares her, and it feels like a great big monster is coming... Bringing to light the good that assistance dogs can do, this lovely book not only teaches us about autism and assistance dogs, but really puts across how different the world feels and sounds to people with autism. And understanding and awareness are the beginnings of inclusion and acceptance, all essential for us to instill in our little ones. Published by Graffeg on 13th July 2023. Find out more here - https://graffeg.com/products/lilly-myles-the-torch. Royalties go to Dogs for Good (10%) and Dogs for Autism (10%)
Sea Change. Save the Ocean curated and edited by Tobias Hickey. This follow-up to the collection Migrations focusses on protecting and saving the Ocean, it's habitats and inhabitants. Illustrators from around the world have sent their illustrated postcards to the project at the International Centre for the Picture Book in Society.
The United Nations Special Envoy for the Ocean, Peter Thomson says in his foreword, "There can be no healthy planet without a healthy ocean", and the ocean's health is definitely in decline - overfishing, pollution, man-made greenhouse gas emissions. He says that Ocean Literacy should be in every school curriculum, and that we should view the oceans as one big Ocean with many features, that does not "belong to us" but rather we belong to it. So we can then see that changes to the ocean in one part of the planet, affect people, habitats and ecosystems in places on the other side of the planet. The UN Secretary General António Guterres has pronounced a red alert for humanity - that we must urgently make peace with nature. Lastly, Peter Thomson says that as parents or grandparents, we must strive towards a better world with hope. And have hope that leaders in politics and commerce will emerge who have the courage to reallocate the world's resources in the direction of sustainability, equity and intergenerational justice.
I loved the foreword - it summed everything up for me.
And the rest of the 107 pages of this beautiful little hardback book, postcards from illustrators around the world, celebrate the Ocean, illustrate the dangers to the Ocean, and inspire action for the Ocean. A perfect gift for absolutely anyone, alongside the accompanying publication "Migrations" (https://www.otterbarrybooks.com/books/migrations). All royalties donated to Greenpeace and International Board on Ooks for Young People. Published by Otter-barry Books in 2023. Find out more here - https://www.otterbarrybooks.com/books/sea-change
Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. A lovely little hardback book from this imprint of Penguin Books. Inside the front flap of the beautiful dust cover, the book is described as "a classic, wise book for women about how to flourish in life, how to balance life, work and motherhood; and about finding space to think and breathe". As relevant now as it was in 1955 when it was written.
"Women need solitude in order to find again the true essence of themselves"
Published by chatto & windus at Penguin Books in 2015. Find out more here - https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/366087/gift-from-the-sea-by-anne-morrow-lindbergh/9780701188627
April's Garden by Isla McGuckin and Catalina Echeverri. April and her mum move into a big house with lots of different people in all the rooms. April just wants a home of her own, and mum says they will, one day. But the big house has a garden and the gifts from neighbours of seeds and some toy pots, gives April some planting to do. She had to wait a very, very long time, but when her seeds eventually grow into beautiful flowers, April has a new home to enjoy them in. A lovely tale about big life changes, and hope. Published by Graffeg on 15/8/23. Find out more here - https://graffeg.com/products/aprils-garden?
Mama Mammals, reproduction and birth in mammals by Cathy Evans and Bia Melo. All about mama mammals, and their offspring, from fertilization to parenting, across the animal kingdom from whales to armadillos, to humans. Clear illustrations and simple text. Published by Cicada. Find out more here - https://www.cicadabooks.co.uk/books/p/mama-mammals
The Grand Hotel of Feelings by Lidia Brankovic. The author's first picture books all about feelings, all kinds of feelings that come and stay at the Grand Hotel of Feelings. Every guest has its own unique needs, big and small feelings, and none are turne away from the Grand Hotel of Feelings. A great book to share to develop an awareness of the language of feelings. Published by Cicada. Find out more here - https://www.cicadabooks.co.uk/books/picture-books
Don't by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick. A beautiful, funny picture book capturing the feelings of a child with a new baby in the family, written and illustrated by a prize-winning Irish author-illustrator. There's a new baby, and he can do loads of amazing things, at least his parents think so. But when Geraldine tries to show them that she can roar too, or kick Mummy, or bite someone, they just say "Don't Geraldine". But everything changes when Geraldine cries and baby Boo does too. geraldine says "Don't cry baby Boo" and Mummy and Daddy say "Don't cry Geraldine ". Published by Otter Barry Books in August 2023. Find out more here - https://www.otterbarrybooks.com/books/don't
The illustrated compendium of amazing animal facts by Maja Säfström. Lovely black and white line drawings accompanying fascinating facts about animals that you might not know. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Find out more here - https://crownpublishing.com/archives/feature/illustrated-compendium-amazing-animal-facts
Art Matters, because your imagination can change the world by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Chris Riddell. An exploration of how reading, imagining and creating can change the world. In the words of the author,
"The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before"
Published by @headline Find out more here - https://www.neilgaiman.com/works/Books/Art+Matters/
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