The River Singers Blog Tour

28th July marks the celebration of the World Nature Conservation Day. To celebrate this important day, I have collaborated with children's author Tom Moorhouse. His book,The River Singers was one of The Times Children's Books of the year when published in hardback last year. Now released in paperback, it's perfect for readers 8 to 12. Tom is  a ecologist at Oxford University's zoology department and he would love to get children (and their parents) to get out and embrace what nature has to offer. 
I have asked Tom to tell us about his novel, The River Singers:

 The River Singers is the story of four young water voles, Sylvan and his brother and sisters, who are growing up on the banks of the Great River and about to take their first steps into the wonderful but dangerous world beyond their burrow. They know that their world is full of enemies like foxes, herons and weasels, but rumours of a new type of enemy have begun to spread. These rumours tell of whole colonies gone, of the Great River being stripped bare of her folk. Sylvan and his siblings know nothing of any of this until one night this enemy finds them in their burrow. In the confusion and terror they escape, but now are faced with a terrible decision: do they stay and try to fight for their home, or leave, and journey on down the Great River to find a new place, far from this threat?

And here's Tom's first tip to get kids interested in the great outdoors this summer:

Tip 1: Mud. Mud. Glorious mud. There are obvious and very good reasons why, when you’re in the house, you can’t let kids follow their instincts and coat everything they touch in liberal quantities of sticky filth. And so, largely against their collective wills, children are constantly having to maintain some semblance of cleanliness. But if there’s one occasion when I think you should be free to get enjoyably scratched, battered, and covered head to foot in muck, it’s when you’re in old clothes and out on a walk, or damming a stream, or poking sticks into holes and hanging from tree branches etc. That (and the wildlife) is the whole reason most ecologists get into our jobs in the first place. So next time you’re out, encourage them get dirty, jump in puddles and not worry to much about being a bit wet and mucky. It’ll be worth it, I promise (but don’t send me the laundry bill).

You can also watch Tom talking about the plight of water voles in the UK.

If you are interested to learn more about the book and get some top tips from Tom Moorhouse, The River Singers will be on a blog tour throughout the week.

Tuesday 29th July - Smiling Like Sunshine (http://www.smilinglikesunshine.com/) Wednesday 30th July - Serenity You (http://www.serenityyou.com/) Thursday 31st July - Confession of a SAHM (http://confessionofsahm.com/) Friday 1st August - Library Mice (http://librarymice.com/) Saturday 2nd August - My mummies Pennies (http://www.mymummyspennies.com/) Monday 4th August - Madhouse Family Reviews (http://madhousefamilyreviews.blogspot.co.uk/) Tuesday 5th August - Red Peffer (http://redpeffer.me.uk/) Friday 8th August - Making It Up (http://liveotherwise.co.uk/makingitup/)

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