Meet the author

Melissa Harrison.

Writer · United Kingdom

Melissa Harrison: nature writer turned children's author whose Hidden Folk adventures are gentle, folklore-steeped miniatures for readers who love the wild world on their doorstep.

Melissa Harrison (born 1975) is an English novelist and acclaimed nature writer who brought her extraordinary eye for the British countryside to children's fiction with the Hidden Folk books, By Ash, Oak and Thorn and its autumnal sequel By Rowan and Yew. Written in the tradition of The Borrowers and Brambly Hedge, these are gentle, richly observed adventures in miniature: tiny ancient beings, only a hand high, journeying through hedgerow, city and deep countryside to discover whether any of their kind still survive in a changing world. Harrison weaves real wildlife and folklore into warm, cosy, quietly moving stories steeped in a love of the wild world on our doorstep. Though she also writes for adults, her children's work is exquisitely crafted and perfect for reading aloud to nature-loving families.