A Year of Nature Poems

In this illustrated collection of nature poems, each month of the year is given its own special dedication. The twelve poems are all unique but are united by their celebration of the natural world and by the poignancy of the messages and memories they share.

Each poem celebrates an animal, plant, or natural event that is prominent that month. Starlings in January, fruit trees in August and hibernation in November, for example. Though there is a variety of style and metre, a love and admiration of the natural world is shared by them all.

Some of the poems take one detail from the month (a daffodil; falling leaves) and shine a light upon the beauty of it, using metaphors and personification to paint pictures of it in readers’ minds. Most of the poems, though, are narrative, with a hugely personal feel. Stories are written of a frightening encounter with a smack of jellyfish, of scrumping for pears, and travelling over the summer solstice, and all of them are told with such an open heart, and with such generous description, that they must surely be autobiographical. Older readers will not be able to resist reminiscing about their own childhoods, and young readers will ponder which details are the poet’s memories and which are invented.

Like all Wide Eyed publications, A Year of Nature Poems is beautifully illustrated, with calm yet vibrant pictures that are perfectly sympathetic to the poems’ ecological themes. They also add complimentary detail that will help young readers to understand the figurative language, and will make it easy for children to flick through the book and find their favourites to share with their parents.

A Year of Nature Poems is a peaceful and moving anthology that reminds readers how rewarding and worthwhile it is to look after our natural world...every month of the year.