a nature poem for every autumn evening
A Nature Poem for Every Autumn Evening is a companion to the anthologies for spring and winter poems. This anthology is as warming as a roaring log fire, and as sweet as pumpkin spice. With one poem for every evening during autumn, this is the perfect literary companion, as the days begin to get shorter. Whether you keep it by your bedside for evening reading (or in your bag for when you come across the perfect cosy coffee shop), this collection is bound to make you feel ready for big scarves, and crunchy leaves. The poems include classics from:
- Katherine Mansfield
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- Percy Shelley
- William Blake
- William Morris
You won’t be sad that summer’s over, once you discover this book. You’ll be celebrating that autumn has begun! Editor Jane McMorland Hunter edits books on the good things in life (gardening, nature, cookery, poetry) and also works part-time in a London bookshop.
Nature Tales for Winter Nights is a treasure trove of stories from across the world, to bring wonder to every winter night. From childhood seasonal tales to stories of polar birds, immerse yourself in these rural, wild and urban tales, as the evenings draw in. From the late days of autumn (though the deepest cold winter) and towards the bright hope of spring, here is a collection of familiar names, and dazzling new discoveries.
- Join the naturalist Linnæus in Lapland
- Witness frost frairs on the River Thames
- Learn about witch-hazel harvesting in Connecticut
- Experience an Alpine adventure
- Learn of courtship in the snow in Japan & ancient Rome
- Observe Beth Chatt’s garden
- Read lines from Anne Frank’s diary
- Listen to fireside stories from indigenous voices
Nancy Campbell is a poet and writer, whose fans include former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy. She has loved winter since she spent time as Artist in Resident at the most northern museum on earth at Upernavik (Greeland). She was appointed Canal Laureate by the Poetry Society, writing poems on London Docklands and the River Severn and received the Ness Award from the Royal Geographical Society.
a British year through Japan’s 72 seasons
Light Rains, Sometimes Fall is a beautifully written book influenced by the prisom of Japan’s 72 ancient microseasons. Across 12 months, the writer charges changes that each of these ancient microseasons (just a few days each) brings to his local patch – garden, streets, parks and wild cemetary. From the birth of spring in early February to ‘the greater cold’ in late January, he draws out eye to the beauty of the outside world, day-to-day.
- Rain sometimes turns to hail
- Dunnock song defies traffic noise
- Woodpeckers start drumming
- Blackthorn sheds blossom
- Crows start building nests
- First chiffchaff sings
- Spring butterflies add colour
- Fox cubs start to play
- Swifts fly home
- Fruit falls to the ground
- Dragonflies lay eggs on water
- Some leaves turn yellow
- Spiders appear in sheds
- Mud all over the place!
- Magnolia shows first buds
Instead of Japan’s lotus blossom, praying manti and bear – he watches bramble, woodlouse and urban fox, hawthorn, dragonfly and peregrine. But the seasonal rhythms and power of nature to enhance our mood remain. Both a nature diary and a revelation of the beauty of small subtle changes in nature, this book allows us to ‘look, look again, look better’:
A fresh new look at the microseasons of nature’s calendar, and beautifully written prose. Stephen Moss
Buy this book and plant it somwhere handy. It will transport you to a wilder, gentler, more beautiful world. Ann Pettifor
Lev Parikian is a writer and conductor who lives in West London. As a birdwatcher, his most prized sightings are a golden oriole in the Alpujarras (and a black redstart at Dungeness Power Station).
reconnect with nature (through the seasons)
The Wildlife Year is a beautifully written book to help you take a walk on the wild side. Nature is right on your doorstep – whether you live in the countryside or city, or somewhere inbetween. And although it’s trickier to find wildlife in some places, it can thrive in the most surprising spaces.
This book is a gentle introduction to the events that mark the natural cycle of the year. Discover and observe nature in all its glory. And from afar, enjoy observing the wildlife around you. Explore the unique properties of the seasons, and learn more about weather events and cloud formations. And also learn about how the moon and its cycle affect our natural world.
This glorious celebration of seasonal wildlife will help you identify our best-loved (and most misunderstood) plants, birds, mammals, amphibians and insects, with helpful information on where they are found. With wonderful illustrations, this guide will encourage you to get outdoors in nature.
In England, we have more than four seasons (and sometimes due to our unique weather – four seasons in one day!) But that’s for another day. What we can learn is to learn to balance our lifestyle, and live in harmony with the seasons. Be inspired by the natural world – trees drop their leaves in winter, flowers known when to bloom and when to let petals fly away. Our three hibernating mammals (hedgehogs, dormice and bats) know it’s time for a long winter sleep, and in nature, even domestic dogs would go to bed nearer a natural time (ie. when the light falls!)
But now our lives are all over the place, and a good many of our health problems (physical and mental) are due to living ‘the same life’ all year round. And harms wildlife too. Light pollution causes birds to wake up at midnight to sing, and sea turtles follow ‘the moon’ (multi-storey car park lights) to lay eggs. Ripping out old building facades to replace with lit glass buildings has caused increase bird strikes (learn how to help stop birds flying into windows).
If it’s a cold day, wrap up warm with warm jumpers and hat. In hot weather, don’t bake in the sun all day – drink cool liquids and stay in the shade.
