As the evenings draw in – a time of reckoning, rest and restoration – settle in with this new seasonal collection. Nature Tales for Winter Nights is a treasure trove of tales from across the natural world that puts winter – rural, wild and urban – under the microscope and draws us in close.

From the late days of autumn, through deepest cold, and towards the bright hope of Spring, arctic traveller and poet Nancy Campbell brings together a collection of familiar names and dazzling new discoveries. Here are Inuit legends, Beth Chatto’s garden and Tove Jansson’s ‘The Iceberg’; artists’ private letters, Anne Frank’s diary and fireside stories told by indigenous voices. Join the naturalist Linneaus travelling on horseback in Lapland, frost fairs on the Thames and witch-hazel harvesting in Connecticut, experience Alpine adventure, polar bird myths and courtship in the snow in classical Japan and Ancient Rome.

A hibernation companion, this book will transport you across time and country, bringing a little magic and wonder to every winter night.