My huge thanks to Kate Hambly for sending me a copy of A wild year By Hannah Dale all those months ago in exchange for an honest review. It is a pleasure for me to finally share that review today and my apologies that is later expected.
Posted by Batsford Books on March 13, 2025, A wild year It is available for purchase through the editor’s links here.
A wild year
Follow Hannah’s deeply personal trip while returning his Lincolnshire farm to nature, celebrating the return of an amazing variety of wildlife.
Hannah Dale, the artist and founder of the award -winning nature gift company Wrendale Designs, takes it through a year on her farm in the rural area of Lincolnshire, where, together with her husband, she has undertaken an ambitious reconstruction project. Together, they try to return the earth to nature and increase the number of species that their land can support.
A wild year Explore how a family has been able to embrace the beauty that is found in messy landscapes, announcing the return of Skylarks, meadows, hobbies, polecats and many more species on their farm. The Earth was originally claimed by swampy wetlands, and relying on the natural inclination of the earth to be wet has also produced amazing ponds and ponds.
This recovery trip has also provided Hannah new sources of inspiration for their paintings. A wild year It is both a magazine and a sketch notebook, in which Hannah maintains a visual record of the incredible variety of species found on the farm.
This fascinating one -year story dedicated to nature gives life to the beauty and power of wildlife in each season.
My Wild Year Review
Life in a Lincolnshire farm while the owners adopt nature.
Wow! What a fantastic book. Daily part, part of nature, part of the artist portfolio, part of memories, it is difficult to convey how beautiful it is a book A wild year is. Without wanting to sound hyperbolic, reading it is similar to spiritual cleanliness, because Hannah gives the reader in nature so effectively that he is experiencing his life by observing and discovering the world that surrounds it as if they were by his side. I do not read much not fiction, but I thought that this book was magnificent and it is not exaggerated to say that I ended up feeling as if I met the author and her farm intimately. I felt Hannah’s range of emotions give him surprise and anger to amazement and hope with her.
While Hannah Dale takes the reader through his experiences, his writing is beautiful, picturesque and evocative, but does not shy away the toughest realities of nature and the impact of climate change. Living in Lincolnshire like me, I could relate to each word, from the missing flies to the lack of small birds.
Despite his honesty, A wild year It is certainly not all fatality. What Hannah gives so eloquently, so convincing and, in reality, as a galvanizing call to weapons, is to illustrate that not everything is lost if only we all play a small role in recovery. The ‘dysfunctional relationship’ as Hannah sees it between us and nature can be changed, for the benefit of nature and humans, and she articulates this concept irresistibly and eloquently.
The illustrations in A wild year They are really magnificent. There is an ethereal quality in watercolor -style images that only serve to increase the text. The images mean that this would be a perfect gift book.
I thought A wild year It was fantastic. Essential reading for whatever remotely interested in the natural world that surrounds them, my only criticism is that I would like to have been available when my lost dad was alive. I would have worshiped him as much as me and reading a wild year made me feel closer to him. I loved it.
About Hannah Dale
Hannah Dale directs Wrendale Designs, a stationery and gift design company that specializes in endearing illustrations that represent British wildlife. His other Batsford titles include: The life of a dog, The Farm Set, The young, The set of countries, Born to be wild and Flying the nest.
Hannah lives in the rural area of Lincolnshire and his work is inspired by the beautiful surrounding field. She is also a trained zoologist.
Visit Wrendale Designs for more information.
