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Why Stanley the Water Vole?

Why Stanley? What’s in a name?

The name Stanley fitted our image and character of a water vole perfectly, and so the story was written with his name fixed and in place right from the start. In fact every character name chosen for our storybooks is crucially important to me, and sometimes I conduct a buzz test to see what sounds the best!

Other times, I share my thoughts and we bounce some names around, but for Stanley I loved him from the start and it’s a joy to know that many children and adults do too.

 

Why a water vole?

Water voles are important in our environment as they are mini ecosystem engineers, rather like beavers but on a smaller scale,  and they contribute greatly to healthy river ecology. They are the largest of the vole family in our country and have an exceptionally wide appetite of vegetation. In fact scientists discovered when studying a vole’s nest by random, that one single vole had approximately 182 different plants and berries in it’s larder already stocked away for the colder months ahead – just like in Stanley’s story. For more information on water voles check out these details from the Kent Wildlife Trust. 

Water voles are sadly in decline, and are listed as endangered on both the Great Britain and the England Red List for Mammals. Population in GB is around 132,000 and they have undergone one of the most serious declines of any mammal in Britain. With one of the reasons for their decline being habitat loss and water pollution, the marriage between our Stanley and the plastic litter issue was sealed.

We wanted children to understand the connection between the two and that by disposing of litter properly would allow for cleaner environments especially in or by the water where Stanley and his friends live. So our storybook details this issue precisely and introduces children to a wild animal, and one who doesn’t like people coming near his home as it scares him. He, as in Stanley doesn’t understand that the humans are there to ultimately help and clean up the environment. So our storybook teaches children how our waterways can be impacted by plastic pollution and how our wildlife suffers as a result of people’s careless actions, and of course what we can all do to help in this situation.

Litter Champions and Stanley!

Stanley has been instrumental in creating many litter champions and environmental warriors around the country throughout schools.  Lots of organisations continue to use his resources and storybook to highlight the message of litter, plastic and engage children with our various fun activities, for instance, teaching them how long plastic can be sitting in our environment prior to it breaking down into microplastics and what that means for biodiversity and us too.

Contact me directly if you’d like more information regarding our workshop resources jenny@talesfrommotherearth.co.uk

Children get it!! 

Children really understand the message and when I run our workshops, the kids are eager to act responsibly and get litter disposed of correctly which is so heartwarming. The message within our Stanley also touches on recycling, waste and the circular economy all important subjects for young minds to understand.

It’s a joy to see children engage with our storybook Stanley the Water Vole, and judging from the comments and feedback we get, I know they’ll never look at crisp packets the same again!

 

 

To purchase your copy of Stanley the Water Vole and see some of our other children’s titles, please go to https://talesfrommotherearth.co.uk/shopwhere-you-can-purchase-our-childrens-audio-picture-storybooks/

All storybooks now with QR code for downloading our audio tracks x4

 

 

 

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Children’s Storybooks on Conservation of Nature

Children’s Storybooks on Conservation of Nature – within 4 short years Tales from Mother Earth has now produced 5 audio/picture storybooks – including 2 commissions covering this exact subject that are all available at https://talesfrommotherearth.co.uk/shop/

  1. Phoebe the Bee – teaching children how important bees are and what we can do to help them
  2. Spike the Hedgehog – teaching children to be more hedgehog aware and help the nation’s favourite mammal
  3. Stanley the Water Vole – teaching children how our waterways can be impacted by plastic pollution and how our wildlife suffers as a result of people’s careless actions, and of course what we can all do to help in this situation
  4. Journey to the Green Roof – commissioned 2023 by the GRO Green Roof Organisation – teaching children the importance of green roofs and what they can give to biodiversity
  5. Sitka the Amazing Timber Tree – commissioned 2024 by Morgan Sindall – teaching children to think about timber in a whole new light! Sitka Spruce is the timber tree of choice throughout the UK and it’s one of the best resources in the world!

For us…

its all about connecting children with nature and that’s why we started Tales from Mother Earth. We want to halt the disconnect that is happening and play our part in engaging children by teaching young minds that they can make such a positive difference in the world and help the animals that are in trouble today. We do this through our realistic audio/picture storybooks narrated by Mother Earth that are designed to ignite the conservationist in all of us, especially children.

So much work to do in this space..

We find its all about positive education in action, and we’re thrilled to be working with some wonderful individuals and organisations who are making a difference.

Tales from Mother Earth producing Children’s Storybooks on Conservation of Nature Supported by British Wildlife Centre

Perfect for children – great learning resources!

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Author Jenny Bailey on bringing green roofs to children

The Green Roof Organisation partners with children’s author, Jenny Bailey to encourage childhood engagement with nature.
In celebration of World Green Roof Day (6 June), The Green Roof Organisation (GRO) has partnered with children’s author and nature enthusiast Jenny Bailey to release ‘Journey to the Green Roof’, an interactive children’s book, to inspire nature engagement from an early age. See the complete article here

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The Green Roof Organisation’s children’s storybook with Tales from Mother Earth

Journey to the Green Roof

This article explores our audio/picture storybook ‘Journey to the Green Roof ‘ and why we were inspired to collaborate with the Green Roof Organisation (GRO) to produce it.

Believing that every roof should be green, we wanted to inspire children to think about green roofs and understand the benefits this type of structure can have to biodiversity and the environment. Green roofs are becoming more common in our towns and cities, so it seems only right we should inform children of how wonderful they are. See the complete article here

To purchase your very own copy of ‘Journey to the Green Roof’ please link through to our shop here

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Transform our World Youth Summit 2022

Recently we took part in the Transform our World Youth Summit 2022 and shared a live Stanley the Water Vole session with hundreds of children across the country and beyond.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and made the event so special.
See the complete article here

Unfortunately, there was an issue with the sound at the start of this video, please bear with us, it kicks in after a few minutes, and before the story starts. Please enjoy the subtitles and BSL in the mean time!
 

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Bring on the mud!!

What Children Really NEED!

As a mother with an autistic child, our co-founder Jenny Bailey is delighted to share this.

“This is so wonderful and really it confirms what we already know. Children NEED the outside and the freedom to explore. Thank you Svetlana Robertson for allowing us to share and for writing a thought provoking and fabulous piece. Bring on the mud!!”

NO YOU DON’T NEED A SENSORY BEDROOM for your child. Seriously, you don’t.

Diagnosed or suspected autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions, behaviour issues and so on. What a great business selling all sorts of ‘special’ things to frustrated parents. ‘Special needs toys’, ‘sensory toys’ are advertised almost like a prescription kind of thing.

Guess what – a bedroom is where your child needs to wind down, rest and sleep. It’s not a disco, nor is it a gadget shop. None of those bells and whistles or flashing lights are needed either for sleep or during the day, and will be overstimulating. You might even find that your child’s sleep improves when you got rid of all those.

Well, OK, you can keep one lamp with a red bulb – there’s some evidence that red light might be helpful to wind down at bedtime.

You do want the best for your child. I have seen many mums showing off their latest version of ‘the sensory room’ – and even more mums saying they are jealous that they can’t do this kind of thing due to lack of space or not being able to afford all the shiny stuff.

This shiny stuff is being sold as a substitute for how to feel like a good parent. Making you feel happy for a moment or two, thinking that now you bought the latest shiny object, you have done the best for your child.

And yet, quite the opposite is true. Your child does not need all those latest tech gadgets, shiny and loud bells and whistles. By the way, he or she doesn’t really need Spiderman/Elsa curtains either. You can throw the ready made plastic tent out, too.

How did society ever survive just a few years ago without all those things?

What your child needs is feeling safe, play, interaction, movement and nature. All the real things. Those with additional needs and various struggles, need that even more. Not be kept in the ‘sensory room’ with hundreds of toys, flashlights, sensory lamps and other weird ‘sensory’ gadgets. This stuff does give a boost – to the economy of those countries where it is cheaply produced. Not to your child’s development.

The brain changes and develops in response to the environment it is in – the kind of environment you create, will create a brain and a child matching that environment.

If you really want to boost your child’s brain development – there are better things, and they are free. Long walks in nature whatever the weather, playing in the mud. Yes. Mud. Very sensory enriching and completely free.

Written by Svetlana Robertson, BSc (Hons) Psychology, Child Neurodevelopment Consultant
email: svetlana@svetlanarobertson.com
facebook.com/thesvetlanarobertson

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Podcast: Loving Pollinators is a Global Endeavor

An Interview with Jenny Bailey on The Great Georgia Pollinator Podcast. Jenny chats with Becky Griffin, Community and School Garden Coordinator, Certified Beekeeper/Pollinator Health Program Associate from the University of Georgia, USA.

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Guest blog: The Butterfly Effect

Julie Paillaugue, Environmental Scientist focused on Climate Change/Holistic Resilience and Adaptation Actor/Nature Enthusiast. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

Have you ever wondered how can one have children without thinking about the future, not only from a self-centric point of view, but also from a global community perspective? ‘Community’ here put humans back into the biodiversity context: “man is a part of nature, and his war against nature is inevitably a war against himself.” said Rachel Carson1.

It was when talking with a colleague about my international degree that I realized quite a few of my peers (including me) ended up with depression and needed a break from studies. ‘The major’, you’ll ask? Climate change. Under all its angles. Scientific mainly, but also political, legal, economic. Yet, an essential part was missing. A tribute to all the positive enterprises, the actions that proved their worth, the ambitious people and their creativity, working to reduce impacts, preserve biodiversity, restore the soils and so on, at their scale, for a Butterfly Effect. The display of hope was lacking. Even if the drastic changing climate and its effects are well en route, the initiatives to help and promote pollinators conservation are flourishing. We just don’t hear about them as much as we should. Not profitable enough for media, I guess.

Maybe you are scratching the back of your head, wondering how exactly climate change is affecting pollinators survival rate, and thus human’s food safety? Preferred habitats of numerous bumblebees appear to be the most vulnerable to climate change impacts, notably in colder climates such as in high mountains and arctic environments1. Higher temperatures, extended drought periods and the difficulty for pollinators to cope with recurrent extreme weather events is leading to a decrease of their habitats availability and is likely to diminish even more their population2, 3, 4.

Higher temperatures also mean higher susceptibility of getting diseases and parasites for bees, generating colony collapse5. The growing unpredictability of seasonal changes is another threatening factor for pollinators, as the moment when flowers are producing pollen and the moment when pollinators are ready to feed on them may not be synchronized anymore3, 5.

Climate change may be hardly scalable and reachable for children and adults, as far as the leverage of our individual actions. Yet, the Butterfly Effect has taught us the incredible possibilities of small initiatives. Higher public awareness about the importance of pollinators biodiversity has triggered a higher citizens engagement in local conservation initiatives in several European countries6. Such trends then fuel more inclination for organic agriculture practices, pesticide-free green areas management, collaborations between NGOs and businesses to fund wild pollinator projects, more pollinator-friendly habitats created and restored in urban, rural areas and national, regional parks. Simple actions such as planting pollinators-friendly corridors7 or even small green areas, leaving wild parts of our yard8 (no more long Saturday afternoons on the lawnmower burning fuel, yay!), planting native vegetation9, saving their seeds for next year and sharing them with the neighbors, can make a significant difference. 1 + 1 + 1 + … + 1 = infinity (∞). I believe in changing minds by ‘showing the example’, no heated debate needed. Our actions and passions, as citizen, parent, friend, often carry more weight and influence than any word could.

Finally, no matter the age, the outdoor nurtures healing, but also creativity, problem-solving, observational and listening skills (oh how crucial in our communication-deficient society), to name a few. Helping biodiversity means reconnecting with Nature, and thus reconnecting with our deepest nature.

References

  1. Carson, R., 1962. Silent Spring. 1st ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
  2. Nieto, A., Roberts, S.P.M., Kemp, J., Rasmont, P., Kuhlmann, M., García Criado, M., Biesmeijer, J.C., Bogusch, P., Dathe, H.H., De la Rúa, P., De Meulemeester, T., Dehon, M., Dewulf, A., Ortiz-Sánchez, F.J., Lhomme, P., Pauly, A., Potts, S.G., Praz, C., Quaranta, M., Radchenko, V.G., Scheuchl, E., Smit, J., Straka, J., Terzo, M., Tomozii, B., Window, J. and Michez, D. 2014. European Red List of bees. Luxembourg: Publication Office of the European Union.
  3. Jackson, L., 2019. East of England Bee Report: A report on the status of threatened bees in the region with recommendations for conservation action. Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust, Peterborough. [online] WWF. Available at: https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/bees-feel-sting-climate-change [Accessed 1 September 2021].
  4. Roberts, S.P.M., Potts, S.G., Biesmeijer, K., Kuhlmann, M., Kunin, B., Ohlemüller, R., 2011. Assessing continental scale risks for generalist and specialist pollinating bee species under climate change. BioRisk 6, pp.1–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/biorisk.6.1325
  5. Duran, L., 2017. The buzz on climate change: It’s bad for bees. [online] Available at: https://www.conservation.org/blog/the-buzz-on-climate-change-its-bad-for-bees/ [Accessed 1 September 2021]
  6. Underwood, E., Darwin, G. and Gerritsen, E., 2017. Pollinator initiatives in EU Member States: Success factors and gaps. Report for European Commission under contract for provision of technical support related to Target 2 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 – maintaining and restoring ecosystems and their services ENV.B.2/SER/2016/0018. Institute for European Environmental Policy, Brussels.
  7. Open Access Government, 2020. Eight conservation success stories of 2020. [online] Available at: https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/nine-conservation-success-stories-2020/91477/ [Accessed 10 September 2021]
  8. Singelis, P., 2021. Here’s how you can help save bees and other pollinators. [online] Available at: https://abcnews.go.com/US/save-bees-pollinators/story?id=76564624 [Accessed 10 September 2021]
  9. WWF, 2021. 5 tips on how to transform your garden into a wildlife haven. [online] Available at: https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/5-tips-how-transform-your-garden-wildlife-haven [Accessed 10 September 2021]
Green reads and activities for you & your children

Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac, 1997. The Keepers of the Earth series:
• Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children
• Keepers of Life: Discovering Plants through Native American Stories and Earth Activities for Children
• Keepers of the Animals: Native American Stories and Wildlife Activities for Children

Tristan Gooley, 2015. The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs: Use Outdoor Clues to Find Your Way, Predict the Weather, Locate Water, Track Animals―and Other Forgotten Skills.

Angela J. Hanscom, 2016. Balanced and Barefoot: How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident, and Capable Children. 1st ed. Oakland: New Harbinger Publications.

Richard Louv, 2008. Last Child in the Woods, Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. 2nd ed. New York: Workman Publishing Company, Inc.

Linda Åkeson McGurk, 2018. There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom’s Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge). 1st ed. New York: Touchstone.

Suzanne Simard. How trees talk to each other. TEDSummit, 2016, https://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_simard_how_trees_talk_to_each_other?language=en

Peter Wohlleben, 2016. The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from A Secret World. 8th ed. Vancouver: Greystone Books.

To go further

Moore, Robin C, 1997. The Need for Nature: A Childhood Right. Social Justice, vol. 24, no. 3 (69), pp. 203-220. Available through: JSTOR website https://www.jstor.org/stable/29767032 [Accessed 25 August 2021]

Taylor, A.F., Kuo, M., Sullivan, W.C., 2001. Coping with ADD. The Surprising Connection to Green Play Settings. Environment and Behavior, 33(1), pp.54-77. Available through: ResearchGate website https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249624329_Coping_with_ADD_The_Surprising_Connection_to_Green_Play_Settings [Accessed 25 August 2021]

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A Chat with Karen Black at HubFizz

Last month we had a lovely interview with the wonderful Karen Black at HubFizz.  Thank you so much – what a joy it was to share our story/mission with your audience, about reconnecting children with nature and helping them feel better about their future by conserving the wildlife of today. We can all do something to help and we’re all in this together.
Listen to the interview here.
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Anchor FM’s Wise Woman Show

We recently chatted to the Wise Woman Show about all things conservation.
Catch the interview here.
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