A Year in Brambly Hedge by Jill Barklem

Over the stream and across the field is the world of Brambly Hedge... And they are celebrating 30 years!

When I received an email offering this new series of Brambly Hedge books to review, I was rather excited. I vaguely remembered the Brambly Hedge mice when I was a child but had not seen or heard of them since.

This beautiful box-set consisting of four books (Summer/Autumn/Winter/Spring Story) arrived in the post and I had a flick through them, I was immediately catapulted back to my childhood and felt very nostalgic and warm. The illustrations are absolutely magical and beautiful and colourful, and the stories themselves are completely captivating for a child, and adult. They make you yearn for homemade bread and blackberry jam, and big roaring fires, and hot cups of tea.  They make you feel very cosy and safe. 
These busy mice live in the roots and trunks of trees of Brambly Hedge. They collect berries and nuts and make homemade pickles and jams. And when they are not working hard they have lots of fun and adventures too.

This is an extract from the Winter Story:

When the Toadflax family went down to breakfast, they found the kitchen dark and still. Mrs Toadflax put fresh wood on the fire and set Clover to work with the toasting fork. Soon they were all sitting round the table, eating hot buttered toast, drinking blackberry leaf tea and making plans for the day ahead.

The snow was thicker than the mice had expected. All the downstairs windows along the hedgerow were covered with snow and many of the upper ones, too, were hidden in deep drifts. They leaned out of their bedroom windows to wave and call to their friends. "Enough for a Snow Ball, wouldn't you say?" called Toadflax to Mrs Apple. "A Snow Ball!" echoed the little mice , gleefully.

This collection of books is absolutely adorable and I would recommend to anyone wanting to give a truly lovely present.