Miss Rumphius

"Yes, I’d love to say that I read this as a child and it’s stayed with me every since, but that would be a lie. I was told about it by an American who had read my website. He actually went to the trouble to send it to me through the post. Although it’s not very big in the UK it’s very well known in the States. The book is the life story of a little girl who grows up and travels around the world. And everywhere she goes she sows lupins. As an old lady she is lying in her bed and she looks outside and sees that the countryside is covered in beautiful lupins. I encourage parents to read it to their young children to inspire them to get out there and take an active role in caring for and creating their local environment. I grew up with a trail of biscuits leading to a wicked witch’s cottage in Hansel and Gretel . In some ways this is the positive version of that."