The Magic of Forests

This is a lovely and really fascinating non-fiction book. Readers get to find out the basics - what is a forest compared to woodland, for example.  Then we go into every aspect from forest folklores and fairytales, including the big bad wolf and doorways to fairy realms, to haunted woods, to scientists and activists dedicated to defending forests, to ingredients of medicines in the rainforest, to wellbeing and forest bathing.

This is a wonderful, accessible book which is perfect for a school library as well as a child’s own book. It does what the very best non-fiction can do, which is open up a whole new world.

We are guided through the book by Mimi the beautiful black and white cat, who keeps us company on every page, wearing lots of silly hats and giving the book even more warmth.

A mixture of photographs, beautiful illustrations and bitesize chunks of texts, imaginatively laid out through the book, make it a particularly engaging read.