I love this book. My Grandma gave it to me when I was about 7 years old.

It was awarded to her almost 100 years ago by Newcastle Upon Tyne education committee for her progress at school.

It has illustrations, activities, and stories to guide the reader through the seasons, encouraging us to ‘Look about you’… practicing #mindfulness ahead of its time, perhaps (in pre-war Britain, anyway! )

There’s even a small tea-stain, and I wonder what she was like in that moment… a young girl, leafing through the pages and discovering a world of nature which she’d probably not seen that much of in real life at that time.

My Grandma had an incredible imagination and sense of fun. And she passed it on through the generations of our family.

For me, this book is a story within a story, conveying a period of her life which, now as a woman and a mother myself, begins to come to life again in a different way.

What books are special to you and your family? And what comes to mind about the special people who have dived into the pages?