Six for Sunday

The March theme for Six for Sunday, hosted by A Little But a Lot is Springing into life and today’s prompt is for Books with nature themes. There were quite a few books which would have fitted this prompt, but these are the ones I’ve chosen:

By Ash, Oak and Thorn is the most delightful wander through, and celebration of nature and the environment, and the need to appreciate and look after it. Three tiny, ancient beings – Moss, Burnet and Cumulus have to leave their home in the ash tree when it is destroyed and travel to find others like them, taking them through the countryside and into the city.

This is a recent read which I loved with its journey through the stunning Scottish Highlands, and the focus on rewilding with the issues this might raise.

I loved Crowfall with its focus on the balance between technology and nature and the wonderful sentient Eard trees. It juxtaposes the two islands of Ironhold and Natura. Ironhold is an island of technology, invention and industry where nature has been denigrated for the sake of progress. In contrast, Natura is an island abundant with nature – wild and mesmerising – whose Eard (takes a very active part in the lives of the islanders.

This is a heartachingly stunning, powerful and thought-provoking story set in a dystopian future where the majority of humans are forced to live in Cities whilst outside nature is given the opportunity to flourish unchecked and unhindered, growing wild. Two siblings, Juniper and Bear escape the City and begin a long and desperate journey through the Wild in an attempt to be reunited with their parents … 

This story opens a window into the breath-taking Louisiana wetlands landscape with a mesmerising view of the marshlands, the bayou, the wildlife and climate, a wetlands that is under threat due to rising sea levels and human threats.

The story is set in the dystopian aftermath when society is drastically changed by the catastrophic environmental damage caused by Hurricane Chronos. The story’s central message is a very current one around the potential devastation that could be caused by inertia in tackling climate change.  It really crystallises the effects this could have not only on the environment but also on the people who have to live in the aftermath, with the innocent bearing the brunt of mistakes made by their elders.  Children are both the victims, and the redeemers, of this dystopian society.