Finding The Magic In Nature

Through Children's Books & Stories
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To look after the earth tomorrow, young people need to learn about everything that grows and lives on it today


My ambition is to show through stories how the natural world can improve the mental health of children and young adults. 
Here on my website I review and write novels that will excite and entertain young readers, while conveying the wonder and healing qualities of the nature. If your'e looking for children's novels with a strong ecology theme, you've landed in the right place. The Bookshelf is bursting with suggestions. Root around in Nature Notes too. When I find facts that interest me, I will share them here for you too.   

And please, get in touch with your own nature news, views and book recommendations. .

I learn something new about the natural world every day. Maybe we could learn together?

Go Exploring!

Latest Nature Posts

Julia Thum's Nature Diary
By Julia Thum 16 Jul, 2021
Snippets of information about UK wildlife, flora and fauna throughout the year
By Julia Thum 30 Mar, 2021
The Druids believed that The Beech Tree is a granter of wishes. It is also symbolic of education, communication, marriage, nourishment, and credibility. I think of beech trees as wishing trees.
By Julia Thum 30 Mar, 2021
See how a group of volunteers in Henley help migrating toads across the road in the breeding season.
Purple dragonfly
By Julia Thum 22 Jun, 2019
Enchanted purple dragonflies
Picture of blue tit and its chick
By Julia Thum 22 Jun, 2019
Blue tit and its chick
A pig
By Julia Thum 21 Jun, 2019
Twenty things about pigs
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Nature Diary


Guess how many beats per second a great spotted woodpecker maikes with its beak? Five? Ten? Try 40! The great spotted is on of three native woodpercker and by far the best drummer.

Book of The Month

By Julia Thum 12 Oct, 2023
From the author of October, October , winner of the Yoto Carnegie Medal, comes a heartbreaking and heart-warming story about sisterhood, found family and accepting love in the most unusual and unknown places. Fen and Rey were found curled up small and tight in the fiery fur of the foxes at the very edge of the wildlands. Fen is loud and fierce and free. She feels a connection to foxes and a calling from the wild that she's desperate to return to. Rey is quiet and shy and an expert on nature. She reads about the birds, feeds the lands and nurtures the world around her. They are twin sisters. Different and the same. Separate and connected. They will always have each other, even if they don't have a mother and don't know their beginning. But they do want answers. Answers to who their mother is and where she might be. What their story is and how it began. So when a fox appears late one night at the house, Fen and Rey see it as a sign - it's here to lead them to their truth, find their real family and fill the missing piece they have felt since they were born. But the wildlands are exactly wild. They are wicked and cruel and brutal and this journey will be harder and more life changing than either Fen or Rey ever imagined ... My Thoughts Reading this book is like disappearing into a wonderful dream. Beautifully written in a mesmerising voice, the setting feels so real you can feel the leaves brush by you and the chill wind down your spine. The characters are skilfully drawn with both sisters telling us their story and sharing their emotional arc from the beginning to the end of their adventure with the author seamlessly and very effectively flitting between the two girl's inner life. The story itself is full of hope, and keeps the reader turning the pages to find out what happens to these two fascinating girls. A roller coaster of a tale with heart warming and heart stopping moments, much intrigue and joy and a hugely satisfying ending. I strongly recommend this book to readers of all ages, particularly middle grade readers with an interest in natural settings.
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The Dawn Chorus

Rube the robin is lead singer in the Lane End Garden dawn chorus.

When Rube learns the magpies are coming to threaten his fellow songbirds, he decides he must take action to stop them.

Join Rube and his feathered friends on their mission to defeat the magpie mafia, and save the Lane End Garden Chorus for another dawn. 

And if you can't picture Rube and his friends, maybe you're not sure which bird is which, head over to Nature Notes, you'll find them all  "Birds!"
Download story for free

Look deep into nature, and you will 
understand everything better.

Albert Einstein 
Discover Children's fiction with a nature theme

The Bookshelf

By Julia Thum 17 Jul, 2023
From the Costa Award winning author of Voyage of the Sparrowhawk comes an epic adventure with a call to arms: we must fight to save the most treasured things on our planet. On the top of the hill, overlooking the sea, that's where you'll find a magical place . . . To Bea and Raffy, Ravenwood is home. In its own way, the house rescued them, even if it did have a fallen-down tree taking up most of the kitchen. So the idea that it could be sold. Demolished even. Well, that's unthinkable. Then again, it's not like the children get a choice. But the truth is, we can all make our own choices, especially if we care enough . . . My Thoughts To me, this is a perfect book. A thrilling story, beautifully written, all about having the courage to hold onto what's precious, and fiercely guard the extraordinary natural world we are privileged to share. Everything about this story will delight young readers who look for adventure and escape in their books. The author effortlessly carries us into a beautiful and eccentric world where relationships between people and nature are complicated, and very precious. With themes of grief, friendship and courage, and an ending that literally had me punching the air with delight, The Rescue of Ravenwood is simply not one to be missed.
By Julia Thum 21 Apr, 2023
 Explore the incredible place we call home! Marvel at the physical planet, learn how the weather works, meet some of the most influential people from the past and present, and much more. Examine every corner of the Earth, from outer space to underground and from the Maasai steppe to Manhattan. My Thoughts This gorgeous book is divided into four large sections, Physical Earth, Life on Earth, Earth Regions, and Human Planet. There are lots of colourful maps and fascinating facts about various places, species, and behaviour, showing the wonderful diversity of life on this planet and hopefully helping readers understand the need to protect it.
By Julia Thum 17 Apr, 2023
It's February 1974 and working class families have been hit hard by the three-day week. The reduced power usage means less hours for people to work, and less money to get by on. Thirteen-year-old Jason feels the struggle keenly. Ever since his parents died, it's just been him and his older brother Richie. Richie is doing his best, but since he can't make ends meet he's been doing favours for the wrong people. Every day they fear they won't have enough and will have to be separated. One thing that helps distract Jason is the urban legend about a beast in the valleys. A wildcat that roams the forest three villages up the river from their bridge. When Jason's friends learn of a reward for proof of The Beast's existence, they convince Jason this is the answer to his and Richie's money problems. Richie can get himself out of trouble before it's too late and the brothers can stay together. And so a quest begins ... Starting at the bridge of their village and following the river north, the four friends soon find themselves on a journey that will change each of them ... forever. My Thoughts Lesley Parr has the wonderful, rare, and hard-earned skill of writing sublime stories that, on the face of it, seem sensationally simple but, like an onion, reveal later after layer after layer to the reader long after the book has been put down. Like The Valley of Lost Secrets, Where The River Takes Us is primarily about brotherhood and friendship, and beneath that there is grief, loyalty, fear, and - most importantly for young readers - a lot of food and a fabulous adventure. The setting, Wales 1974, is sublimely drawn and the issues - poverty, strikes, social care, bullying - are as relevant today as they were fifty years ago. The characters feel alive and individual, each one representative of people we have all met along the way, and the author illustrates the deep love between them without once - as far as I can remember - actually using the L word. Where the River Takes Us is a thought-provoking, exciting, tear-jerker of an adventure To be enjoyed by free readers aged 8-11 and a great one to read together at bedtime.
By Julia Thum 15 Mar, 2023
R un away from what they see. Discover who you are. Maudie and Jake's family is falling to pieces - their mum's been struggling with her grief since they lost Dad and one night she vanishes. When Jake is put into care, Maudie can't take it any more. She comes up with a wild plan to pull their family back together - by kidnapping Jake. On the run in Cornwall, Jake and Maudie each find something they hadn't expected - freedom and love. But can they find Mum and a way to heal together?A powerful and insightful novel about grief, disability and first love; a story about getting lost and finding yourself. My Thoughts A wonderful, heartbreaking, tender, hopeful story of grief, love, and acceptance. What the World Doesn't see is a is all-consuming, with distinct voices that suck the reader into its vortex of emotion, grief, fear, and joy. Mel Darbon's characters are multi-dimensional and technicolor, so vivid they stay with you long, long after you finish reading the book. The story is gripping - I had to make myself slow down so that it lasted longer - and the emotional intelligence behind it all is extraordinary. If you read just one book this year, make it this one.
By Julia Thum 06 Mar, 2023
Lily and Tom travel the county with Ma Hawker, enthralling crowds with their amazing collection of curios. Always on the lookout for new wonders, Lily is tricked into buying a worthless bag of rubbish. But hidden within is a special piece of scrimshaw. A young woman called Flora Meriweather is desperate to buy the scrimshaw, hoping it can help her solve a mystery surrounding her late mother. But someone else also wants to get his hands on the scrimshaw and ensure that secrets stay hidden in the past. Can the Curio Collectors help the truth come to light? My Thoughts This book is sublime! From the gorgeous title, cover illustrations and production quality to the absolutely delightful story, The Curio Collectors is a joy to behold. I always enjoy Eloise Williams' novels; she is a master storyteller w ith a delightful lexicon that enriches the story and the reader, with not a word wasted. In The Curio Collectors Eloise has pulled off a blinder, creating a seemingly simple tale that is rich with history, multi dimensional characters, complex relationships (I love the dynamic between Lily and Tom), and conflict. And y ou only have to hea r the fabulous name ' Horatio Pinch ' , and g lance at Anna Shepeta's brilliant illustration, to know all you need to know about the badd y who instantly put me in mind of Ian Fleming's terrifying Child Catcher. Barrington Stoke (the publishers) list this title as having a reading age of 8, and with a dyslexia-friendly layout, typeface and paperstock so that even more readers can enjoy it. Certainly I can imagine it appealing to younger readers as a challenge, and older readers as a relaxing, easy read. I am 203, absolutely loved it and can vividly see nine-year-old me carrying it around, stroking the cover, copying the pictures and reading and reading it again. Fantastic stuff!
By Julia Thum 03 Mar, 2023
Set in a world where plants talk, friendship is hard-won and adventure is around the bend of every river ... Orla has lived on her own since Ma died, with only her beloved garden for company. When sickness comes and nature is blamed, Orla knows she must find a cure. Armed with her mother's book of plants and remedies, she steals away on a river boat with two other stowaways, Idris and Ariana. Soon the trio must navigate the rapids of the Inkwater to a poisonous place from which they may never return ... My Thought s This is an absolute dream of a book. Yarrow Townsend is an astonishingly talented writer and in this - her first novel - she takes the reader on a twisty turney journey through the wonders of nature while cleverly weaving a complex and multi-layered story that comes to a fabulously satisfactory and unexpected conclusion. My favourite bit is the plants, who talk to Orla all along the way, begging, cajoling, berating her with their whispered words. This conceit works fantastically, and involves the reader in the very roots of the story. I also love the start of every chapter where the plants are categorised with Latin name and folklore or healing powers. This story really does have everything; nature, a good plot, diverse and interesting characters, twists and turns and a truly original premise. I thoroughly enjoyed it and urge all of you to read it.
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Loose Ends 

By Victoria Williamson 21 Oct, 2021
To celebrate the publication of her fabulous new novel, Hag Storm (find it on The Bookshelf ) Victoria Williamson talks about the challenges involved in writing historical fiction, and how she set about bringing one of her favourite poets - Robert Burns - to life in her wonderful new story. "History was always my favourite subject in school. I loved learning about the societies and individual lives of people in the past, and the emphasis on meticulous research and accurate interpretation of events based on reliable sources was never an issue for me, until I started writing historical fiction. Researching the life of the young Robert Burns, I found books which painted his early life in broad strokes, such as Reverend James Muir’s wonderful ‘Robert Burns Till His Seventeenth Year’, but many of these seemed to leave just as many information gaps as they filled. It’s these gaps that writers of historical fiction often refer to as the ‘rabbit holes’ which they can fall down while doing their own research on the characters they’re writing about. One minute you’re writing a scene where the main character’s mother is in the kitchen preparing dairy goods from their farm to sell at market, the next you find you’ve spent a whole afternoon researching the history of cheese-making in eighteenth century Scotland, and exactly how long it takes to make Dunlop cheese. Historical accuracy matters, but while I did my very best to ensure I portrayed the details of Ayrshire life in 1771 as accurately as possible in Hag Storm, I found myself taking liberties with the some of the events in the life of the young Robert Burns, and inventing some of the characters he might have met. Take, for example, the character of the mean-spirited factor, Angus McNab, who makes the Burns family miserable in the book with his insistence on prompt rent payments regardless of the family’s circumstances. In real life, during this time their landlord, Provost Fergusson of Doonholm, was still alive and would no doubt have been more understanding, having already agreed to lend William Burns the large sum of £100 to stock the farm at Mount Oliphant. But every hero needs to be up against a first-rate ‘baddie’ who gets his just desserts by the end of the story, and if there wasn’t a real one at the time the story is set, then a little historical fudging is sometimes required! Provost Fergusson passed away in 1776, five years after the events of Hag Storm take place, and it is only then that the Burns family are pursued by the estate executors for rent arrears. It was these events that that gave Robert Burns the model for his cruel factor described in his poem ‘Twa Dogs’: Poor tenant bodies, scant o’ cash, How they maun thole a factor’s snash; He’ll stamp and threaten, curse an’ swear, He’ll apprehend them, poind their gear; While they maun stan’, wi’ aspect humble, An’ hear it a’, an’ fear an’ tremble! However, in order to give young Rab a worthy foe and to heighten the dramatic tension of his family’s difficult life on the farm, I chose to confine Provost Fergusson to his sickbed during the events of Hag Storm and to introduce a factor that would turn the financial screw on the Burns family every month. Burns purists will no doubt be horrified by this historical inaccuracy, but it’s at points like these where historical fiction must diverge from factual biography in order to produce the most exciting plot possible. After all, if readers are willing to buy into the idea of a young Robert Burns battling witches to save his family, they can hardly object to a few liberties being taken with his real-life teenage timeline! It’s this balance between the demands of producing engaging fiction while also ensuring meticulous research is done to preserve as much real-life accuracy as possible that makes writing historical fiction so tricky, but ultimately so rewarding. It’s a genre I would encourage everyone to try, not just for the challenge, but for the unexpected joy of spending an hour or two learning about everything from the history of watermills in Scotland, to traditional cottage thatching techniques!"
The Importance of Libraries by Victoria Williamson
By Victoria Williamson 11 Sep, 2019
Victoria Williamson, author of The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle and The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, talking about the worrying trend of library closures
Photo of author Juliette Forrests
By Julia Thum 04 Jul, 2019
Interview with author Juliette Forrest
Profile picture of Eloise Williams
By Julia Thum 27 Jun, 2019
Interview with author Eloise Williams
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