It’s too hard to pick one! I loved the tiny, detailed world of Jill Barklem’s Brambly
Hedge and the gentle adventures of the mouse families who live there. It’s a world full of kindness and busy, joyful activity.

 I also adored The Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker. Her fairies feel so real, with their wings of ragged silk or rumpled gossamer, like a butterfly’s or a moth’s. Each flower fairy gets their own poem alongside the illustration and these are also wonderful – characterful, lively and informative, with flawless rhythm and rhyme.

When I was a bit older, I fell in love with Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud
Montgomery. Anne is so inspiring – she’s a daydreamer and a wordsmith who throws herself into living everyday life to the fullest. Along the way she makes many mistakes – often hilarious ones – but she never loses her positive
spirit.

 Finally, one of my all-time favourite writers is the glorious Eva Ibbotson. Like Anne, Eva Ibbotson’s heroes and heroines are always brave and determined, and passionate about making the world a better place. She’s so good at unique characters and
exciting plots and wry little details that make you snort with laughter.

I just bought a middle-grade adventure novel called Letty and the Mystery of the Golden Thread by Penny Boxall. Like me, Penny writes poetry for adults, as
well as writing for children. I love her poems, so I’m excited to read her work
for children.

I also always have several poetry books, poetry anthologies and poetry magazines on my bedside table – I read as much poetry as I can! I find it expands my perspective and my imagination in a thrilling way. Sometimes I can actually feel a new door opening in my brain as I read!

I go on walks – anywhere works! The rhythm of my feet hitting the ground helps shake out my ideas and sets down a basic beat for the poem to dance around. I think
there’s something about being loosely distracted by the outside world that lets
a different part of my brain get to work. Ideas come in flashes and the poem seems to tell me what and how it wants to be!

There are lots of important practical things we can do, like planting flowers for the bees, limiting our use of plastics, and cutting down on how much meat we eat. I also think it’s important to nurture deep, attentive love for the world around us – to tune into the tiny details and the shifts of the seasons and allow
ourselves to be constantly awestruck by the magnificence of our planet. 

One of my favourite poets (for adults) is Mary Oliver. She wrote passionately about her love for the natural world, and in her poem ‘Messenger’ she says: “My work is loving the world […] mostly standing still and learning to be astonished”. I think that’s a wonderful approach! Imagine if everyone was astonished by the world – then everyone would want to help it.

One of the best things I ever did was attend a course on identifying trees. I love knowing which species are growing near me and being able to name the mix of trees along a street or in a woodland. The green world comes into sharp focus when I am looking for the details that help me tell a copper beech from a cherry plum, or a wych elm from a hornbeam. I wish I’d done it earlier!

If there’s a grown-up in your life who knows about different trees and plants, you could ask them to start teaching you. They will be delighted! There are also lots of books that will help you with species identification.