Richard Jefferies

Wood Magic Richard Jefferies

Wood Magic (1881) introduces his child-hero, Bevis, a small child on a farm near a small lake, called the "Longpond," clearly Coate Farm and Coate Reservoir. Bevis's exploration of the garden and neighbouring fields brings him into contact with the country's birds and animals, who can speak to him, as can even inanimate parts of nature, such as the stream and the wind. Part of the book is a depiction of a small child's interaction with the natural world, but much is a cynical animal fable of a revolt against the magpie Capchack, the local tyrant.