From climbing trees and making dens to building sandcastles and pond-dipping, many of the activities we associate with a happy childhood take place outdoors. And yet, many children today are so alienated from nature that they can't identify the commonest birds or plants. They are shuttled between home and school and spend very little time in green spaces, let alone roaming free. The nature writer draws on his own experience as a parent and a forest school volunteer to explore the relationship between children and nature. He will also showcase some of the best of British and Irish nature writing in a new anthology, The Wild Isles, which juxtaposes extracts from much-loved classics and passages of contemporary writing.
Patrick is in conversation with Mya-Rose Craig, aka Birdgirl, ornithologist, campaigner, founder of Black2Nature and author of We Have a Dream.
