Books can reconnect children with nature

Getting children interested in the natural world is about storytelling - and that’s where books come in, argues author Piers Torday

I live in London now but my world was shaped by the valleys of the south Tyne, overlooked by moorlands up top and cloaked in deepest forest down below. In the 1980’s Northumberland felt massively undeveloped, especially in terms of housing and roads. My brother and I benefited from unfettered access to acres of rough pasture, gnarled copses, and shady pools. Often, in the summer holidays, not another human voice or passing car could be heard for hours, and the only soundtrack to our playing would be our panting dog alongside us and bees buzzing in the garden.

Or at least, that’s one version. Another is that my parents were always nagging me to put my book down and get outside for a change.

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