By Ash, Oak and Thorn by Melissa Harrison

Ash, oak and thorn were at the world's dawn. 

Rowan and Yew will make it anew ...

Ash is where Burnet, Moss and Cumulus have made their home. They are Hidden Folk - tiny human-like beings who live in harmony with their natural environment and the wild animals that inhabit their tiny corner of England. Then one stormy night Ash (their tree) is hit by lightning and the trunk splits apart. They three friends have lost their home but there is an even more pressing danger. Cumulus, the oldest of the group, is starting to disappear. Burnet and Moss desperately want to help their friend so all three decide it is time to seek help. They hope to find others of their kind - other Hidden Folk - older Hidden Folk - who may have an answer and a solution to this terrible situation. 

The trio journey to Oak where they find Sorrel. The oak tree is in a beautiful place called Folly Brook. Meeting Sorrel is wonderful because now the three friends know they are not alone in the world but this issue of disappearing is spreading. Burnet's feet are invisible. It is now even more urgent to continue their journey to the Mortal's Hive. 

Travelling by converted rollerskate and later on the backs of three friendly pigeons they read their destination. Thorn is a space in a park in a city where mortals live. It is a dangerous place as you might expect but it is also the place where the group of four find more of their kind. These little people are slightly different from Burnet, Moss and Cumulus. They call themselves Hobs. 

"Hobs are simply another kind of Hidden Folk who prefer to live indoors. Mortals generally call them borrowers or hobgobblins, or bwbach in Wales and bauchan in Scotland."

There is a strong environmental message in this book which at first I found a little overly didactic but I now think this was necessary as a way to create the contrast between the idyllic world previously inhabited by Hidden Folk who have existed for thousands of cuckoo summers and the destruction wrought by humans. A cuckoo summer is the way the Hidden Folk measure time. One cuckoo summer is one human year. 

It is interesting to reflect on the way we select books to read or buy. I was visited Beachside Bookshop a few weeks ago and I spied this book - By Rowan and Yew. The appealing cover caught my eye.  Reading the blurb on the fly leaf I discovered this book is "an enchanting sequel to By Ash, Oak and Thorn " so I asked the bookseller, Libby, to order the first volume for me. 

You can read an extract from By Ash, Oak and Thorn here. And an extract from By Rowan and Yew here. Here is a video review of By Ash, Oak and Thorn. 

When I bought the two books home I made another discovery. These two books (the correct term is duology) are based on or inspired by or a modern re-retelling (sorry I am not sure which of these applies) of an old book called The Little Grey Men by BB.  BB is actually Denys Watkins-Pitchford and The Little Grey Men won the 1942 Carnegie Medal. I have now added The Little Grey Men to my enormous 'to read' list. 

Here is the Penguin Random House blurb for The Little Grey Men: On the banks of the Folly Brook, inside an old oak tree, live the last three gnomes in Britain: Sneezewort, Baldmoney, and Dodder. Before their fourth brother, Cloudberry, disappeared upstream seeking adventure, they lived happily and peacefully among their woodland friends. But now spring has come and the brothers start thinking about spending the summer traveling upstream to find Cloudberry. Before long they’ve built a boat and set off for unknown lands, where they find themselves involved in all kinds of adventures with new friends (wood mice, water voles, badgers) as well as with enemies (two-legged giants).

And here is the Chicken House blurb for By Ash, Oak and Thorn: Three tiny, ancient beings – Moss, Burnet and Cumulus, once revered as Guardians and caretakers of the Wild World – wake from winter hibernation in their beloved ash tree home. But when it is destroyed, they set off on an adventure to find more of their kind, a journey which takes them first into the deep countryside and then the heart of a city. Helped along the way by birds and animals, the trio search for a way to survive and thrive in a precious yet disappearing world ...

Now onto the environmental conservation messages in this book. They make sense to me after even more research because the author Melissa Harrison and, not by coincidence the original author Denys,  are both naturalists. Melissa Harrison's previous adult titles include these:

Here are a few text samples showing the environmental focus by Melissa Harrison. 

"Bright spring sunshine sparkled on the Folly Brook, which flowed merrily amid water crowfoot and flag irises and made a wonderfully soothing sound. A drake mallard swam part, the sun flashing off his beautiful green head, followed by a swan and her fluffy grey cygnets, webbed feet paddling fast underwater ... On the banks cow parsley and water forget-me-not were just coming into bloom, while a willow branch overhanging the water made a perfect perch for a pair of azure kingfishers ... "

"Every day, more butterflies tumbled and fluttered among the wild flowers, and more summer birds - chiffchaffs, whitethroats, blackcaps and willow warblers."

Her descriptions of the English countryside, birds and other animals reminded me of The Keeper of Wild Words. And the relationship between Moss, Burnet and Cumulus reminded me of the Isobel Carmody series which begins with The Red Wind. I also thought of the Poppy series by Avi. If you like books which feature small human-like creatures you could also look for the four book series by Annie O'Dowd which begins with Left Shoe and the Foundling. 

I also need to make special mention of the food in this story which is as delightful as the delicious food in the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. Foods such as elderflower cordial, beechnut flapjacks, conker bread and honey cake.  And this book contains the most delicious hugs between the three friends who have such a beautiful relationship. 

"Burnet shuffled over a bit in the magpies nest and the two friends gave each other a long hug. It was one of those hugs that has so many warm feelings in it that it actually heals both the huggers a little bit. Both of them were smiling, and had their eyes closed."

I was interested to read the wide range of reviews on Goodreads ranging from one star to five! 

Here are a few of the books I mentioned in this post: