Wild Child: A Journey Through Nature

Shortlisted for The Wainwright Prize for Nature and Conservation Writing for Children 2022

Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Children's Travel Book of the Year 2022

Join the brilliant Dara McAnulty, winner of the Wainwright Prize for Diary of a Young Naturalist, as he takes you on a nature walk to share in the joy of connecting with the natural world on your multi sensory journey starting just beyond your own front door.

Wild Child: A Journey Through Nature is a beautiful gift book, illustrated in full colour by Barry Falls, and divided into five chapters: looking out of the window, venturing out into the garden, walking in the woods, investigating heathland and wandering on the river bank.

Dara pauses to tell you about each habitat and provides fantastic facts about the native birds, animals and plants you will find there - including wrens, blackbirds, butterflies, tadpoles, bluebells, bees, hen harriers, otters, dandelions, oak trees and many, many more.

Each chapter contains a discovery section where you will get a closer look at natural phenomena such as metamorphoses and migration, learn about categorization in the animal kingdom or become an expert on the collective nouns for birds.

Every chapter ends with an activity to do when you get home - you will be shown how to make a bird feeder, try pond dipping, make a journey stick and build a terrarium and more.

Dara closes the book with his own inspirational advice for young conservationists. This is the perfect guide for an aspiring naturalist.

About the Author

Dara McAnulty is a naturalist, conservationist and activist from Northern Ireland. He's received many awards for his conservation work, including from BBC Springwatch, The Daily Mirror and Birdwatch magazine. He's written and presented numerous natural history programmes for BBC radio and television, and become an ambassador for the RSPCA, the iWill campaign and the Jane Goodall Institute. Dara is the youngest ever recipient of the RSPB medal for conservation.His first book Diary of a Young Naturalist won the 2020 Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing.

About the Illustrator

Barry Falls grew up in rural Northern Ireland. His work has appeared in magazines, books, exhibitions, on textiles and homeware, and in advertising campaigns around the world. His first book, It's Your World Now! was published in 2019.