By Ash, Oak and Thorn: the perfect cosy read for children, chosen as one of Countryfile's best books of 2021

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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. 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

Irish-American Witchcraft: Oak, Ash, and Thorn – the Irish-American Witchcraft: Oak, Ash, and Thorn – the

I have also been discovering a lot about my own beliefs through these little characters. Since becoming a parent I have been trying to nurture my inner child and access a long-forgotten part of myself that has faded away with the stress and challenges of being an adult in the modern world.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.

By Ash, Oak and Thorn: a perfect summer read for children

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. In a book that nods to classic childrens fare, such as The Little Grey Men by “B.B.” and The Borrowers by Mary Norton, this is a story filled with natural history and wonder. Harrison doesn’t so much create a world as she does show us what it really there; what has always been there, if we have eyes to see. Lovingly painted characters and landscapes expose a world of tiny beings, the overlooked environment of our day-to-day life. As the Hidden Folk consider their own continued existence in the world, they ponder the behaviour of humans; why we do the things we do, what we consider important and everything we miss or ignore in the world. They want to understand why some humans (most usually children) can see and speak to them and others seem to forget. (There is a short, wonderful scene in the beginning when a young child, Ro discovers them and can even speak the language of natures’ creatures, the Wild Argot. Really makes you wonder!)I suspect this was the volume Burne-Jones sent to Kipling. Going by the British Library catalogue, the first edition was published in 1848, and there were numerous reprints.[D.H.] 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 will send you Geoffrey of Monmouth where is a lot of names-might prove useful-rum names, Sir, as ever was. He’s a author as has been down in the market but is looking up now, and though his style is pomptious, being wrote in Latin he didn’t understand, scholars is beginning to depend on him a good deal, as having got his stories out of old books, and not making them up himself as was for a long time supposed.