Out Today - "100 Things to do in a Forest" by Jennifer Davis and Eleanor Taylor (Laurence King Publishing)

As we enter the final week of our blog, we wanted to review the heck out of a book that offers a quirky, sometimes rather eccentric view of something that we - in lockdown over the last few months - have been dying to do for ages. Thankfully as the lockdown rules are eased, and the hordes of ruinous barbarians who have dumped litter all over our green spaces have instead retreated to the shops and pubs that have reopened instead, we can finally return to a few of our favourite woodland haunts.

"100 things to do in a forest" by Jennifer Davis, with beautiful illustrations from Eleanor Taylor dances between the sort of outdoorsy book we've seen quite a few times before, but also comes up with some rather quirky and - as we said - slightly eccentric things to try the next time you find yourself winding your way through the trees of your favourite green space.

Some of the book's ideas are obviously aimed at children and of course we're all over those, but there are others that feel aimed at adults / parents too, so it's good to not be left out for once!

Things you can eat while out for a walk. Ever tried Hawthorn berries and leaves?

Both my wife and I have always encouraged our daughter to enjoy being out in the countryside as much as possible, and we're very lucky where we are that we have wild spaces almost on our doorstep. Jennifer's humorous but knowledgable text takes you through some simple ideas at first, but then really brings on the controversy in a couple of cases, for example highlighting that as much as we've always been taught to tread lightly through the countryside and not pick wild flowers or break branches off trees, nature can take it - and it's quite an outspoken view but we can almost see what she's getting at here, that we're in danger of teaching our kids to treat green spaces almost like shrines rather than really getting involved with enjoying them to the max (that's not to say you should encourage your little darlings to run rampant through your local forest glade, trashing the place of course!)

The other slightly controversial section in the book is the one about knives. Sometimes when we go out, we take one with us for whittling or forest crafting but always with that strange sense of guilt that carrying a knife around brings. "TISH AND POPPYCOCK" says Jennifer (not literally, but in attitude), there's nothing wrong with taking a carbon-steel bladed knife with you when you go out for a forest bathe, don't be such a wuss! Local authorities may of course see it slightly differently, as they would about lighting fires in forest spaces too (so always check with local bylaws and certainly make sure you check and gain permission from landowners before you go setting up the perfect campfire).

Light a fire and make some campfire bread (but check with landowners and local bylaws first!)

There you see, we've already gone onto the backfoot of being slightly 'nannyish' about the book's content, but this is a fantastic resource if - like us - you love trekking and enjoying the amazing green spaces we have in our country, so perhaps we all need to take the safety wheels off, particularly after months in isolation, and really enjoy this book and its fabulous suggestions to the full.

Sum this book up in a sentence: 100 amazing ways to really get the most out of your favourite forestial habitats, with loads of activities and ideas for young and old.

"100 things to do in a Forest" is out today, 10th August 2020, by Jennifer Davis and Eleanor Taylor, published by Laurence King Publishing (kindly supplied for review).