Go Wild is an engaging programme of events for families across Suffolk which forms part of our wider Wild Reads programme. Explore wild places and learn more about our environment and how to care for it with our collection of stories and information books for children of all ages.
Little Mushroom
Willow Green, Gisela Bohorquez and Rebecca Kealy
Have you ever wondered how little mushrooms grow? Inside the pages of this stunningly illustrated story you will meet a friendly little mushroom, and learn how it grows from a tiny spore into a fully sprouted fungus! This rhyming story book is packed with super-cute illustrations, and the board book format is perfect for little hands to hold on to.
When Autumn Comes
Ekaterina Trukhan
When autumn comes, the leaves are changing colour on the trees, the birds are flying south and the sleepy hedgehog is settling down for his winter sleep. Pine cones, apples and a shiny conker in its spiky case, picking pumpkins with Mum and raking leaves with Dad, before sharing apple pie, warm and cosy as the wind whistles outside – there is so much to see and do as the natural world prepares for the coming winter. And one little girl is loving every magical moment!
Wild
Katya Balen and Gill Smith
A little girl loves playing in the woods and rejoicing in the wildness all around her. She sees secrets in the stars and stories in the earth. But one day she moves to the city. Surrounded by tall, grey buildings, she feels disconnected and alone. She has lost her wild. Or has she? Maybe she will find wildness where she least expects it.
Leave the Trees, Please
Benjamin Zephaniah and Melissa Castrillon
Follow a little boy’s friendship and journey with one tree, in this powerful and beautiful love letter to nature. From master wordsmith, Benjamin Zephaniah, comes a breathtaking new poem and story showing how trees offer us the perspective and connection to nature we crave in our daily lives. The final scene is an honest representation of the devastating effects of deforestation and urban development, encouraging all of us, everywhere, to ‘leave the trees, please’.
Mushrooms Know: Wisdom From Our Friends the Fungi
Kallie George and Sara Gillingham
Mushrooms always wear their thinking caps. They know so many things. This vibrant and informative book shares the fascinating lessons that fungi can teach us: that small can be mighty, being unique is a reason to celebrate—and staying connected is key. Sara Gillingham’s lively art and Kallie George’s charming text captures the wondrous world of mushrooms, and everything we can learn from it.
Hide and Find in the Forest
Kaja Kajfez
Under the golden glow of dawn, the forest is waking, the river rushes, and a young rabbit is ready to explore. What’s that beneath the branches of a sprawling oak? Who will you meet under the bright shining sun? Join little rabbit as he wanders the woods and help him find all the incredible things there are to discover among the trees. Find out about the different fungi that can be found near the oaks, spot the butterflies that flutter in the sky and count the salmon swimming in the river.
An Autumn Day for Bear
Bonny Becker and Kady Macdonald Denton
One autumn day, Bear is all ready to go for a picnic with Mouse. But there is no tap, tap, tapping on Bear’s front door. No sign at all of his small and grey and bright-eyed friend. Bear sets out to look for Mouse and finds him sitting on a stump, lamenting the signs of autumn – the leaves falling, the birds leaving, and the flowers going, too. After not too long, Bear agrees that this autumn day really IS the worst day ever. But together, with slippery puddles, wonderfully messy mud, and tea and pickles in front of a crackling fire, Bear and Mouse may find that this preposterous day may not be quite so bad after all.
Who Owns the Woods?
Emily Hibbs and Jess Mason
Follow a little boy and his grandma as they wander through the wild and wonderful woods. From the forest creatures who scamper, crawl or fly through the leaves to the trees and plants which sway with the breeze, the woods are full of curious and beautiful life. As the boy is introduced to more and more of the phenomenons of the forest, he begins to ask an important question: Who owns the woods?
Wild
Jack Ashby and Sara Boccaccini Meadows
Explore the rich diversity of the animal kingdom! Meet dozens of creatures with extraordinary abilities, then understand how they have adapted to thrive in the wild. Discover the endless teeth of a great white shark, learn how bats can ‘see’ in the dark and understand why gentoo penguins are so cleverly coloured. Written by award-winning zoology writer Jack Ashby and illustrated by the inimitable Sara Boccaccini Meadows, this is a book bursting with life like no other.
The Mice of Mushroom Forest
Zanna Goldhawk
Deep within the darkness of Mushroom Forest, Fox’s towering shadow sends the small creatures scurrying away in fear. All except for Inky Mouse, who is brave and curious, and longs to explore the world beyond her burrow. But can Inky convince her sisters to take courage and experience the wonders of the woods for themselves?
Old Oak and the Wild Flowers
Elena Mannion and Erin Brown
Old Oak and his bug friend are worried by the hot, dry summer. The barley in the field is short and thin, and the insects and birds are fewer in number. But the farmer has already had an idea: he will rest the soil and plant a field of glorious wild flowers, bringing back many insects to the field and hedgerow.
Hello Fungi: A Little Guide to Nature
Nina Chakrabarti
Did you know that fungi are not quite plant, not quite animal and not quite bacteria, but a unique organism in a kingdom all of their own? Beautiful gallery-style pages showcase a fascinating world of fungi, including glow-in-dark fungi, the funky fungi that give off the strongest smell and the most colourful fungi. Creative off-the-page activity spreads include how to make a spore print and a recipe for delicious store-bought mushrooms on toast. With tips on mushroom identification (including the ones to avoid!), fungi-based activities to enjoy, and a guide to the most colourful and unusual mushrooms, this little book will provide hours of pleasure, both indoors and out.
The Tree of Life
Nalini Nadkarni and Kendra Binney
A lift-the-flap book about the animals, plants, and fungi that live in trees, written by pioneering tree scientist Nalini Nadkarni.
A single tree can be home to hundreds of different species. This joyous book highlights some of the best tree habitats in the world, with plenty of fun things for young readers to spot in each stunning illustration by Kendra Binney. After spying a creature hidden in the foliage they can lift a flap to learn more about it.
Saving H’non: Chang and the Elephant
Trang Nguyen and Jeet Zdung
When Chang meets an elderly elephant named H’non, she makes a promise to rescue her from a lifetime of captivity. Together, they embark on a quest to find a new home where H’non can live as nature intended – wild and free.
A Field Guide to Autumn
Gabby Dawnay and Dorien Brouwers
This volume presents a pocket-sized introduction to autumn. Building on children’s natural curiosity about the world around them, it aims to establish a connection with nature at an early age that will go on to last a lifetime! Go berry picking, make art out of fallen leaves, identify mushrooms, and build a woodland den. Discover why the weather changes in autumn and how animals prepare for winter.
The book features lyrical poems, hands-on crafts and activities, scientific facts, and identifier pages to help children spot different spiders, leaves and fungi.
The Wild Wood
Sally Morgan and Mary Atwood
Join Bud the bear, as he embarks on a magnificent journey through the seasons of the Wild Wood. Along the way, he’ll see flowers bloom, birds migrate, snow fall in soft flurries, spiders weaving webs, tadpoles transforming into frogs, caterpillars becoming colourful butterflies and much more. Seasonal checklists appear at the end of every chapter, so little adventurers can discover and tick off many magnificent spectacles in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, including animal footprints, nests, beetles, birds and beyond! For the eagle-eyed there are six rare woodland creatures to find hidden in the pages.
Humongous Fungus
Lynne Boddy and Wenjia Tang
Inhabiting a whole kingdom of their own, fungi can be found in every ecosystem. They carpet the forest floor, and hidden fungi decompose matter, feed plants, and affect how animals function. Their beautiful mushrooms come in all colours, shapes, and sizes. Fungal stories include the greening of the Earth, when fungi helped plants first grow on land, and the mass destruction of crops through fungal disease. From the villains of the upcoming bananageddon to plastic-eating eco-warriors, there are over 1.5 million fungus species, and a huge, unknown number of unnamed ‘dark’ types. They affect other creatures, too, for example by helping to break down food, or controlling their minds against their will.
Under Your Feet
Jacqueline L. Stroud, Marc Redmile-Gordon and Wenjia Tang
Soil is essential to life on Earth, and this book explains exactly how it impacts different areas of our lives – from the link between soil and climate change, to growing the food that we eat, and why we need to protect the ground. ‘Under Your Feet’ delves beneath the Earth’s surface and explores the diverse wonders hidden there. Encounter creatures of the deep and marvel at the mind-boggling size of the humongous fungus – the biggest organism in the world. Discover all the stuff you never knew about the world under your feet, from exactly what soil is made of, to the creepy crawly creatures who make it their home.
A Bear Belongs
Catherine Barr and Harriet Hobday
Meet Tan-Tan ‘the tiny one’, Kitud ‘the quiet one’ and Boboi ‘the big brother’, and follow them from their heartbreaking beginnings as little cubs stolen from their natural habitat, through to their heroic rescue by Dr Wong before being released back into the wild Bornean rainforest where they belong. Featuring insightful fact pages about the amazing flora and fauna of the rainforest and its importance to the ecosystem, alongside inspiring information about how to save the bears.
See Inside Wild Places
Laura Cowan, Rong Pham and Vinh Nguyen
The wildest, most extraordinary places on Earth await you. But, do you dare to enter the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest? Visit the serpent-infested Snake Island? Dip your toes in the deadly waters of the glittering Lake Natron? Meet savage creatures and amazing ones too, as you discover some of the most thrilling parts of our diverse and beautiful world.
Stories From the Wild
Emily Hibbs and Jenny Miriam
From the deepest oceans and vast tropical rainforests to the snowy peaks of the highest mountain and mighty desert plains, discover the awe-inspiring wildlife moments that are taking place in the different habitats around the planet. Dive beneath to the ocean and see the colourful corals of the Great Barrier Reef, meet a koala joey as he undertakes his first climb outside his mother’s pouch and fly high with the golden eagles above the Himalayan mountains.
With stunning lyrical stories, fascinating facts and gorgeous illustrations, this book is a beautiful celebration of the wonders of our amazing Earth.
Nature Heroes
Lily Dyu and Jackie Lay
The natural world is a rich web of animals, plants and other organisms. But this delicate balance is at risk – facing challenges such as climate change, pollution and destruction caused by humans. While the threat of the biodiversity crisis may feel impossible to overcome, individuals from all over the world have dared to fight for nature, and their astonishing stories prove that change really is possible! From cleaning-up the mighty Mississippi, to farming coral, to inventing plastic alternatives made from seaweed, it only takes one person to stand up for their beliefs and inspire others to join them. And when we stand together, we can start to change the world.
The Secrets of Mushrooms
Ginevra Picoco and Lorenzo Cocchi
The history of mushrooms is millions of years long, and they are incredibly mysterious living beings. They are neither plants nor animals. So how do they live and what secrets do they hide? Discover everything you need to know about mushrooms’ existence, from what they are made of to how they are born and grow, and from how they defend themselves to how they communicate. Everything you need to know about mushrooms is packed into this handy guide written by expert authors in mycology and biodiversity and evolution, perfect for autumn and fungi enthusiasts.
Earth
Ben Lerwill and Xuan Le
You’ll never look at soil the same way again! What’s the point of soil? What’s it ever done for us? From hosting billions of worms to minibeasts and microbes, to being the home of fungi that could allow trees to talk, to providing enough nutrients to feed a planet – soil is a muddy, magical, marvellous miracle!
Fungarium
D. L. Hawksworth and Katie Scott
Illustrator Katie Scott returns to the ‘Welcome to the Museum’ series with exquisite, detailed images of some of the most fascinating living organisms on this planet – fungi. From the fungi we see on supermarket shelves to fungi like penicillium that have shaped human history, this is the definitive introduction to what fungi are and just how vital they are to the world’s ecosystem. Created in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Weird and Wonderful Ways to Save the Planet
Madeleine Finlay and Jisu Choi
Fancy biting into a beetle burger? Or heating your home with poo? How about using plants to light your bedroom? We all know that climate change is having a huge impact on our planet – but what we don’t all know are some of the genius – but sometimes strange – ways scientists are working to find practical and imaginative answers to this and other Earth-altering problems. From the breakfast table to the bathtub, on a day at school or in the park or at the farm, see how some of these bizarre and brainy inventions could fit into everyday life.
Friends in Nature
Marina Ruiz
All living things in the natural world – from the trees and the bees to the dogs and the frogs – depend on one another. There wouldn’t be a coral reef without the help of all the fish that have made it their home. Rainforests are only filled with lush and colourful plants because of the birds and mammals who eat and scatter their seeds. Acacia trees have a whole army of ants to protect them, while elephants rely on egrets to keep them parasite-free. And it’s because of bees, wasps and butterflies that we have tasty fruit and vegetables to eat. Created by writer and artist Marina Ruiz, beautifully illustrated scenes reveal the wonderful connections and cooperation in nature.
An Anthology of Fungi
Ali Ashby and Lynne Boddy
Find out how to identify, where to spot, and what to know about common woodland mushrooms and rare fungal finds with this beautiful book. Transportable in size and crammed with profiles of different mushrooms, ‘An Anthology of Fungi’ covers toadstool species including fly agaric, porcelain fungus, velvet shank, wood blewit, and crimson waxcap, as well as lichens, brackets, and more.
A Wild Child’s Guide to Nature at Night
Dara McAnulty and Barry Falls
This beautiful, informative book takes you through nature at night in five different habitats in Britain and Ireland – meet hedgehogs and moths in the garden; bats, owls, foxes and badgers in the woodland; corncrakes, dormice and woodcock in the countryside; pine martens, glow-worms and mountain hares in the heathlands; and the animals that live as constellations in our sky.
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