Michael O’Mara Books to publish THE WILD REMEDY JOURNAL with naturalist and best-selling author, Emma Mitchell

Michael O’Mara Books has snapped up The Wild Remedy Journal: Finding Wellness in Nature by popular naturalist, illustrator and best-selling author, Emma Mitchell. The journal is full of Emma’s exquisite artworks, photographs, observations and reflections on nature, along with prompts and ideas to help readers strengthen their relationship with nature and improve their mental and physical wellbeing. Nicki Crossley acquired World All Language rights from Juliet Pickering at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency.

The journal follows the Sunday Times bestselling The Wild Remedy: How Nature Mends Us (published Jan 2019), a deeply personal, unique record of Emma’s woodland walks and wildlife discoveries over the course of a year, detailing how each encounter significantly influenced her mental wellbeing, and an exploration of the neuroscience behind it. Having suffered with depression for over twenty-five years, Emma is an unflinchingly honest and knowledgeable writer, as well as a talented artist, designer and maker. With this journal, she invites her many followers to accompany her with her hands-on exploration of the natural world, and the benefits it can bring.

Nicki Crossley, Senior Commissioning Editor said: ‘Once again, Emma has stunned us with this beautiful book. She is so grounded in nature and there’s no one who can convey its benefits and the scientific evidence that proves those benefits in quite the way Emma does. This time she asks her readers to engage directly with her, recording their thoughts, feelings and finds when connecting with nature. Always candid, hugely knowledgeable and so, so human, this has been a very personal journey for Emma and I’m sure it will resonate with many.’

Emma Mitchell said: ‘I am thrilled to be working with the Michael O’Mara team again. Centuries of anecdotal evidence and literary accounts echo my experiences, and research is beginning to elucidate the scientific mechanisms that underpin nature’s ability to soothe a troubled mind. My hope is that this book may encourage others who may have stressful lives to experience the curative effects of nature by exploring their local patch.’

BBC presenter and naturalist, Chris Packham, says of The Wild Remedy Journal: ‘At a time when disconnection from wildlife threatens our mental health this book offers the perfect adaptor to plug our brains back into nature’s therapeutic socket. Page by page it reconnects us to the real, wild world we live in. A must-read for any modern-day Homo sapien.’

Emma Mitchell is a designer-maker, naturalist, illustrator, and the acclaimed author of The Wild Remedy (2019) and Making Winter (2017) – over 80,000 copies have been sold in the UK and the US across both titles. She studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge and spent time in academia studying molecular cell biology and was a technology consultant in emerging technologies in Silicon Fen until 2008, when her struggles with depression and anxiety led her to begin writing about the positive impact of both nature and time spent creatively on mental health. Emma records her daily nature finds with photographs and illustrations on Twitter (@silverpebble) and on Instagram (@silverpebble2) – a combined following of 193,000 followers. She has appeared on Radio 4’s Ramblings, Countryfile’s winter special and BBC Springwatch and Autumnwatch.

The Wild Remedy Journal: Finding Wellness in Nature will be published by Michael O’Mara Books on 4 January 2024, in paperback, priced £12.99.