hardback

This book is essentially a detailed travelogue of a journey back to a realistic perception of the natural world that sustains our being, with bees playing a guiding role in the journey.

When I say 'detailed' I mean the book goes into considerable detail in describing species (especially bee species), their behavior, and ecological aspects. As the journey progresses, the author's perspective broadens to assimilate other eukaryote (plants and animals) life forms.

As a naturalist I found the material interesting — certainly with its human touch more engaging than the dry scientific papers I try to keep up with. My fear though, is that the level of detail will be a limiting factor in attracting readership. Sales may be enough for the publisher, but I don't see that many delving into the contents.

If one thinks of eco-lit as a means to try to broaden the perspectives of the many that are mostly enveloped in the human bubble, then this book may not be a good starting point to breaking out. Many fascinated with their electronic gadgets and games may tire of this book quickly and miss the significant points within. On the other hand, this is an excellent book for those that have begun this journey and are desirous of more understanding.

Thus, though I applaud the authors effort, I felt I couldn't rate it more than four stars, and would not recommend it as a starting point for those that need coaxing. Our little blue canoe needs a critical mass of understanding if our youth are to have much of a future. ( )

So many of us live busy, urban lives. Nature and wildlife are relegated to being noticed only on occasional summer walks, bring batted away from drinks in the pub beer garden or trying to battle pests whilst making our back gardens bloom. Brigit found herself in a similar situation a decade or so ago. Instead of shrugging and moving on as many of us do, she determined to start paying nature more attention, learning how to really see wildlife and becoming more aware of the changes the world around us is undergoing. This book details her falling back in love with mother nature, focusing initially on the bumble bees she saw around her Malvern home and then broadening out to the flowers, trees, insects and birds that she also came into contact with over the years.

Now before I go on I should come clean: I've known Brigit for many years, and I'm so very happy to call her a friend. So this is probably not a terribly unbiased review. On the other hand I've witnessed first hand how excited Brigit can get over seeing a new bee or plant or bird, and I know how much time, effort and resources she has put into her learning more about her beloved bees. I've seen her give talks about bees in village halls that have audiences engrossed on details of Hairy Footed Flower Bees life cycles, naughty bees committing larceny and male bumble bees with cute facial hair. In my opinion this book captures the sheer delight and joy that Brigit brings to these talks, along with the deep understanding she has built up by immersing herself in the subject. But its so much more than just a book about bees.

This book isn't a bee identification guide. It also isn't a beekeeping book. It isn't really a wildlife reference work. However you'll pick up tricks for identifying bees (and insects that pretend to be bees) and there are details tucked inside on how beekeepers work (as Rob, Brigit's husband, is a beekeeper). At the back of the book there is a reasonably large set of references and links to organisations for readers who want to follow a similar path to the one Brigit has taken. Throughout the book there are lovely little illustrations by wild life artist John Walters. These aren't laid out as you'd see in an academic reference work, but they serve to accent and highlight some part of the story being told in each chapter.

And this book is a story. It is a beautifully written one, describing of how Brigit set out to correct her disconnection with nature. How she found some things difficult and confusing at first, but then slowly came to appreciate them as her understanding and skills improved. It is a story full of highs and lows. For example one of the most beautifully written chapters describes how she and Rob helped bring the joy of watching birds and wildlife back to her mother in a nursing home in the last months before her death. I read that on the train, and a big bloke having a bit of cry whilst reading probably isn't something most commuters commonly see. But I'm so glad that Brigit included it, as it demonstrated perfectly how nature can be used to reach out to people who are sadly becoming disconnected from the world around them. If people take nothing more from this book (and there is so much more) it will have been a book worth writing, buying and reading.

If you want to reconnect with nature yourself, or just read a lovely story of how Brigit wove nature back into her life, this is the book for you. I loved it... even the bit crying on the train. ( )