Wild Child
Coming Home to Nature
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Granta Books
Published:14th May '20
Currently unavailable, our supplier has not provided us a restock date
An intuitive and inspiring study of childhood and the joy and wonder to be found in neighbourhood nature, from one of our finest nature writers
'Entrancing... If ever there was a book to fuel the ecological interest of future generations, this is it. An inspiration for parents, grandparents and teachers, it is equally about showing adults how to recover their own joie de vivre' Isabella Tree, author of Wilding From climbing trees and making dens, to building sandcastles and pond-dipping, many of the activities we associate with a happy childhood take place outdoors. And yet, the reality for many contemporary children is very different. The studies tell us that we are raising a generation who are so alienated from nature that they can't identify the commonest birds or plants, they don't know where their food comes from, they are shuttled between home, school and the shops and spend very little time in green spaces - let alone roaming free. In this timely and personal book, celebrated nature writer Patrick Barkham draws on his own experience as a parent and a forest school volunteer to explore the relationship between children and nature. Unfolding over the course of a year of snowsuits, muddy wellies, and sunhats, Wild Child is both an intimate story of children finding their place in natural world, and a celebration of the delight we can all find in even modest patches of green.
Compelling... a book that deserves to flourish.... Wild Child gives us some bold and inspiring ideas about what an education system that is truly fit for the 21st-century might look like * Guardian *
Engaging... elegant and moving... Barkham writes beautifully... The book brims with tender scenes and small epiphanies * Financial Times *
Upbeat and urgent -- ‘50 brilliant books to transport you this summer’ * Guardian *
Patrick Barkham's entrancing Wild Child shows us how to reconnect our children with nature, to a world of excitement and discovery, of mud in the hair and joy in the heart. If ever there was a book to fuel the ecological interest of future generations, this is it. An inspiration for parents, grandparents and teachers, it is equally about showing adults how to recover their own joie de vivre -- Isabella Tree
A must-read for all Britain's naturalists -- Chris Packham
Barkham combines the patience and eye for detail of the naturalist with a vivid writing style * Sunday Times *
In this engaging part-memoir, part polemic, Barkham argues for greater access to the natural world for all children, at a time when we appear to be raising a generation almost totally alienated from it * Bookseller *
Memorable...[Wild Child's] message is an urgent one... We ignore the lessons... at our peril * Spectator *
[Barkham] reminds all of us of the joy that is to be found in nature, whatever age we are * People’s Friend *
Patrick Barkham, with customary grace and charm, tells us about the importance of nature to children in his new book Wild Child -- Mark Cocker * New Statesman *
In this personal celebration of tree-climbing and den-making, one of our foremost nature writers explores the relationship between children and the great outdoors * Country Living *
Wild Child is such an important book, full of tender and insightful moments. As well as a moving memoir, it is a manifesto for change, which includes many wonderful ways in which you can encourage children to find themselves in nature and, in the process, heal the disconnect experienced by adults too -- Dara McAnulty
ISBN: 9781783781911
Dimensions: 216mm x 135mm x 21mm
Weight: 434g
352 pages