A First Book of Nature

From beachcombing to stargazing, from watching squirrels, ducks and worms to making berry crumble or a winter bird feast, this is a remarkable book – part poetry, part scrapbook of recipes, facts and fragments – and a glorious reminder that the natural world is on our doorstep waiting to be discovered. Mark Hearld's pictures beautifully reproduce the colours of the seasons on wood free paper, and Nicola Davies' lyrical words capture the simple loveliness that is everywhere, if only we can look.

Now in paperback for the first time, A First Book of Nature is our May kids' book of the month, the winner of the English 4-11 Award and has also been longlisted for the SLA Award.

 'How could a child not adore this book?’ Good Housekeeping

Nicola Davies is an award-winning author, whose many books for children include The Promise, Ice Bear, Big Blue Whale and the Silver Street Farm series. She graduated in zoology, studied whales and bats and then worked for the BBC Natural History Unit. Underlying all Nicola's writing is the belief that a relationship with nature is essential to every human being and that now more than ever, we need to renew that relationship. Nicola lives in Abergavenny, Wales.

Mark Hearld, a breath-taking new talent in children's books, is a distinguished artist and printmaker. He studied Illustration at Glasgow School of Art and Natural History Illustration at the Royal College. He now teaches at art colleges in Hull and Edinburgh and has recently designed a range of bags and stationery for the Tate and held a solo exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Inspired by the natural world, especially by animals, Mark makes prints, paintings and collages, as well as textiles and ceramics. Mark lives in York.

A First Book of Nature is published by Walker Books and available online and from all good booksellers. All our free copies have now gone but you can find a fabulous free activity sheet here.