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This story is filled with examples of kindness, secure relationships, healthy communication (including disagreements), navigating big/scary feelings, empathy, compassion, unconditional love, as well as respect for the natural world, an interesting look at the personalities and ethos of different animals, and perspective about humanity’s impact on nature. During my reading I was asking myself the obvious questions – what have we done to our planet? And why have we allowed this to happen? The book is a love letter to the earth in crisis and Melissa Harrison’s story confronts my questions, and many others, by showing us a Wild World that is disappearing at a frighteningly rapid rate and exploring mankind’s relationship with the natural world. The author never suggests that we Mortals are natural destroyers but that we are just ignorant and misguided. It arrived with a seed paper tag attached to the cover and I was soon happily engaged and following the instructions – Plant, Water, Sun, Grow – and potting the seed paper. I have been promised flowers and I hope I’m not disappointed. Movingly she expresses the sadness of our broken relationship with the Wild World – “ Mortals often harm the Wild World, knowingly and unknowingly – but that’s only because they don’t know we are their brothers and sisters. Just imagine how lonely that must be ….I think that is a terrible burden to bear.” With the simplistic eco-ism, babyish emotional lessons and mild peril it feels like much younger fare than the novel-length it’s stretched to here.
Books by Melissa – Melissa Harrison
The journey is made in an attempt to discover if they are now the last of their kind or if the persistent rumours that more Hidden Folk are alive and well in the countryside are true. Along the way, they meet many wild creatures and overcome many obstacles and they are transported by rides from deer and pigeons. Moss tells us that the rides were OAT is based on the popular Rider, Waite, Smith format, making it easy for anyone familiar with Tarot to use, and you can use most Tarot books to help with understanding the cards and their meanings if needed. Reference Cards Our reality is already challenging, complex, and dark. The older I get the more I realize, that simple lessons are valuable at all ages, perhaps even most valuable as we get older and are more likely to brush them aside. Cumulus, Burnet und Moss sind Hidden Folk - kleine Naturgeister, die seit Jahrhunderten in einem hohlen Baumstamm inmitten eines verwilderten Gartens leben und sich um Flora und Fauna ihrer unmittelbaren Umgebung kümmern. Doch als ein Frühjahrsunwetter ihr Zuhause zerstört und Cumulus beginnt, durchsichtig zu werden, müssen sich die drei unweigerlich auf eine abenteuerliche Reise aufmachen...As well as being magical, written with great warmth and humour, there is also a strong environmental message, delivered gently but clearly. I thought this book was a really lovely tale, highlighting how important taking care of the environment is, from the perspective of the wild life being most effected by our actions. This is a lovely book exploring nature, protecting it and connecting with it, all told through an adventure by the Wild Folk- Moss, Burnet, Cumulus- who are similar to borrowers but who have protected nature from the beginning of time. But things are changing, and Cumulus and Burnet are beginning to disappear, and they set out of a quest to find more like them, to find out why. Approach this book with your disbelief suspended and your imagination receptive and you will be welcomed, as I was, into the Wild World. This is a delightful book. In it we are introduced to the Hidden Folk - little people in nature, and the adventure and journey that they go on. There are some great characters, an engaging plot, loads of interesting incidental learning about the natural world and relationships. Although, a children's book, I think anyone of any age would enjoy this wonderful book if they have an interest in nature or observing the world around a little more closely. This would be a wonderful read aloud book (and I almost wished I had a small person to read it too). Whatever your age through - it encourages us all to notice the small things, watch and listen more - and forage in hedgerows!
By Ash, Oak and Thorn by Melissa Harrison | Goodreads
Adventure into the wild world of the Hidden Folk - Their job is to look after the natural environment, and if you pay attention you may even catch a glimpse of one! Verse 3 line 1] In churchyard mould: Many of the biggest and oldest yew trees in the United Kingdom are to be found in churchyards The poem was also later included in Songs from Books and DV. In both a head date of AD 1200 is added. Along their journey, they meet lots of animals and other creatures, but also notice how much change there has been in the countryside.I, chs. iii-xvi) the founder of Britain is Brutus, a great-grandson of Aeneas, outlawed after accidentally killing his father. Daniel Hadas adds: ‘The refrain shares the rhythm of that of the carol on the Seven Joys of Mary, with “good sirs” where the carol has “good man”. Kipling had already imitated that carol, again with “good sirs”, in his ‘ A Carol’ So this poem is a sort of pagan counterpart to the Christian original and Kipling’s imitation of it. “Oak, and Ash, and Thorn” are a Trinity of sorts.’ [D.H. I am listening to the audiobook which is full of lovely nature sounds and makes the story even more magical! Stories were a crucial way in which I connected with nature as a little girl, imaginatively and emotionally. I'd love to see a new wave of children's nature writing follow these books and help today's kids do the same. If you like By Ash, Oak and Thorn by Melissa Harrison you might also like: The Marvellous Land of Snergs by Veronica Cossanteli, Darwin’s Dragons by Lindsay Galvin, Hello Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly, The Time Traveller and the Tiger by Tania Unsworth, I Ate Sunshine For Breakfast by Michael Holland, and our list of recommended year 5 books.
BY ASH, OAK AND THORN - Chicken House Books BY ASH, OAK AND THORN - Chicken House Books
I don’t necessarily agree with all the changes and directions that the new beliefs are taking, and in some cases I outright argue against them, but nonetheless belief is a fluid thing. I’ve mentioned before when discussing the twee-ification of modern fairy beliefs that I may not like it but I can see that in some way or other it has a purpose. In the same way I’m sure not everyone likes the adaptations and changes made to the old beliefs to make them better fit new places and environments, but that doesn’t make them less necessary or important. My own personal form of witchcraft is itself a hybrid of the old and the new, an evolution of sorts in belief. Everything that is living is growing and adapting to the world around it, and that is a good thing; but as we grow and adapt we should always remember the truth of our roots, whether those roots are old or new. This book was an excellent modern addition to the ‘tiny folk’ stories which are ever-popular for a reason. Following in the tradition of The Borrowers and The Minpins, we meet three of the ‘hidden folk,’ guardians of the wild world, whose home in an ash tree has been destroyed. They set out on a journey to find a new home, as well as to try and meet more of their kind who, in the face of human environmental destruction, seem to be disappearing. I really enjoyed following the trio's journey and adventure. The ending left me wanting more, but this is a really unique read that I would recommend. In By Ash, Oak and Thorn (May 2021) three Hidden Folk no bigger than your hand wake from their winter sleep in the hollow trunk of an old ash tree. Moss, Burnet and Cumulus usually love spring, but their joy turns to worry when they discover that Cumulus, the oldest, is starting to fade away. Guided by birds, stars and wild creatures the trio leave their beloved home in search of answers. Other Hidden Folk are rumoured to live in an ancient oak on the bank of a stream, deep in the countryside. But they soon learn that they must travel to a loud, busy and danger-filled place called The Hive…
The autumn of 1933 is the most beautiful Edie Mather can remember. But in the fields and villages around her beloved Wych Farm the Great War still casts a shadow over a community impoverished by economic depression, and threatened by change. Change, too, is coming to Edie, who at fourteen must soon face the unsettling pressures of adulthood. Constance FitzAllen arrives from London to document fading rural traditions and beliefs, urging all who will listen to resist progress and return to the old ways — but some wonder whether there might be more to the glamorous older woman than meets the eye. As harvest approaches and the future of Wych Farm itself grows uncertain, Edie must somehow find a way to trust her instincts and save herself from disaster. Now before the hate mail – or at least comments – start flowing in, let me be clear about something. Modern isn’t necessarily bad. Lots of concepts in neopaganism are modern and they still work just fine. Neopaganism gets some of its significant theology, ³ for example, from Robert Graves book The White Goddess which was published in 1948 and that doesn’t make those things any less valid. Generally these new concepts and ideas are built on older ones just with a new interpretation or understanding. So the idea of a triad of fairy trees may not be much more than a hundred years old, but it obviously is drawn from something else – perhaps the observation that these three trees often grow around holy wells, or perhaps the same thing that inspired Kipling’s poem. This harmony is realised beautifully when Melissa Harrison describes the relationships between the animals in the Wild World. Moss has gone missing and the others are frightened of meeting Vesper, a vixen enlisted to help them find their friend, but they are told that they can trust her and … “ the moment they were looking up at the vixen’s beautiful golden eyes, they found that they could communicate quite easily…..just as they had with all the other creatures they had met.” Before the Normans arrived in 1066, and began to unravel the English sense of self at the tip of a sword, everyone in the country would have known the story of Wayland the smith.
Celtic sacred trees - Wikipedia Celtic sacred trees - Wikipedia
While Harrison peppers in plenty of flora and fauna names her presentation of the worm’s-eye-view natural world never feels more than superficially informed. She never conjures a sense of deep knowledge or immersion. We’re told to care about the natural world - or rather, chided for not doing so - but the book doesn’t do much to convince of its wonder and value. I’m still not sure I entirely understand the concept behind the so-called fairy triad, of the oak, ash, and thorn, but it is clearly a belief that has value to many people and which many have seized onto and incorporated into their own spirituality. There is something about the idea of the three trees that appeals to people on what can only be a deep level, in the same way that other newer beliefs appeal to people. Whether it is new or old oak, ash, and thorn together have become an important concept in many different traditions, and for the people who believe in its value, ultimately, its source should matter less than its efficacy. References Reminded me of books from my childhood: The Borrowers, The Faraway tree stories. Definitely the kind of story I would have relished as a child. Simple and slow can of course be good things where there’s a nuanced philosophy or world to explore but Harrison’s feel basic. This seems like a whimsical fairytale at first, but I love the underlying social commentary about men's relationship with the environment and the impact we have on it. It reminded me of all the Enid Blyton books I read as a child.
The belief system outlined in this book has shown me exactly what I have been yearning to reconnect with, and is essentially the framework for how I would like to live and raise my children to think and act. Humanity’s baleful influence is constantly bemoaned but not really dramatised: it’s not human action that destroys the protagonists’ ash-tree home or imperils Moss at the end that, or really constitutes any of the obstacles. In By Rowan and Yew autumn arrives and the Hidden Folk decide to leave The Hive to try and unravel a riddle that might explain why their kind are fading from the Wild World. It’s a journey filled with both danger and delight: golden leaves, shiny conkers and the brightest of berries, but also storms and the first frost of winter. They have friendship, good sense and humour on their side, but will it be enough to secure a future for the Hidden Folk – or will they need to go further, and find a way to work with the most unreliable of creatures … humans? It’s not a hateful book, but honestly I think it’s pretty vapid. Some sequences are well-imagined, like a flying scene late on. But there’s a lot of fiction out there executing this kind of message and/or the idea of a world of tiny people to much better effect than this. Verse 4, line 1] Ellum she hateth mankind, and waiteth: Stands of lofty elm trees were a familiar sight in the English countryside in Kipling’s day, though since the early years of the twentieth century they have been tragically devastated by Dutch Elm disease.
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