Autumn 2021 Blog

The final leaves are clinging on, the streams are swollen, and we’ve just had our first frost this morning…Autumn is very much here. We love all seasons here, but Autumn really seems to ignite a Brambly Hedge spark amongst you all. It is fantastic to see all your posts on social media hailing the start of Autumn, and we are honoured that so many of you include our little books in your posts.

Before we continue our autumnal stroll through the crunchy leaves, we should rewind to events from late Summer. We were delighted to receive the news that Jill had been nominated for a Blue Plaque in her hometown of Epping in Essex, England. Jill was born in Epping and lived there almost her entire life. The town was a very special place to her, and the surrounding Epping Forest provided much inspiration for what would eventually become the Brambly Hedge series. We would like to thank the good people of Epping for nominating Jill for the plaque and to Epping Town Council for all their support, Jill would have been so proud to have a plaque in the place that she would always call home.

From Epping to the north east of London we move to Elstree in the north west, where we attended a Brambly Hedge themed picnic at Home Farm Glamping for the August bank holiday. Families enjoyed an exploration through the Hertfordshire countryside with the Wilderness Foundation, an organisation that harnesses the power of the wilderness to transform vulnerable lives and empowers people to conserve nature. After exploring the flora and fauna of the site we all sat under a huge oak tree for a picnic and a reading of Summer Story.

The idea of picnics seems a long way off today as the autumn sun attempts to burn off the morning frost, but here in front of me is a picnic…admittedly on the slipcase of the beautiful new Brambly Hedge Classic Collection. It’s wonderful to have a large format book back in the Brambly Hedge range, the larger the format the more detail can be found in Jill’s incredibly detailed cross-section illustrations, there’s always something new to be found. The Classic Collection has just been launched and is now available from your local bookshop.

There’s lots of exciting new translation publishing in Japan, Russia, Ukraine, and we are delighted to be publishing our first ever Vietnamese editions of Brambly Hedge this month too. More translations are on their way, so keep an eye on our social media for updates.

As the evening light fades each autumnal day, thoughts turn to Winter. Our new Christmas card range with Museums & Galleries features twelve cards with two cosy illustrations from Winter Story that will warm up even the coldest December evening. The twelve pack of cards is available now from our website, but do be quick, they are proving very popular!

In the meantime, enjoy those crunchy leaves and cosy evenings. We wish you all a wonderful and fruitful Autumn.

Pete Barklem

Brambly Hedge