Nature as a Character by Sarah Ann Juckes

Robin by Sarah Ann Juckes is a charming story, for Christmas, and for all year around, reminding us of the importance of our natural world, our own feelings and friendships. In this Guest Feature Sarah Ann Juckes talks more about the themes of the book and her inspiration. For a full review see the Armadillo Homepage where Robin is Book O' The Week.

My thanks to Ellen at Simon & Schuster for making this possible and to Sarah for this beautiful and thought-provoking feature, and a heartwarming story.

As adults and as children, we are taught to wear masks. We have one for school, one for work. Another for home, but another still at someone else’s house. These masks come with expectations to be polite and put others’ needs before our own. And they can be lovely masks to wear, unless our wearing them starts to quieten our own sense of self.

This is why I’ve always loved spending time in nature. In the middle of an open field, or deep in an ancient forest, there are no expectations. You can be completely yourself, whether that’s loud, or quiet. Whether you want to sit and think, or run around like a wild animal.

In my latest book, Robin, nature is a living, breathing force that shapes the journey of the main character – ten-year-old Eddie. Eddie feels as though his sense of self has been erased to the point where he has become invisible. The mask he wears to be a good, brave big brother to his little sister – who is about to undergo another major heart operation – feels heavy. When he goes to stay with his Uncle John in a cottage overlooking an ancient forest, Eddie has the opportunity to spend every day in nature – and it changes him.

He meets some of the ancient oak trees in the forest – each one with their own personality. They don’t ask anything of Eddie, giving him the opportunity to put words to difficult emotions he’s been having for a while. He feels the trees pull his secrets into their heartwood and the forest gives him something back in return – a friendly robin, who sees Eddie when it feels no one else does. And Mari – a strange, see-through girl, who says she’s spun from past stories that the trees have remembered.  

The setting of Robin is based on Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire. I went for a walk there back in autumn 2019 and I was mesmerised by the gnarled ancient oaks that lined the paths. Each one of these trees had been there for hundreds of years – imagine the stories they have seen and heard! The air was almost thick with them as I walked by and the idea for ROBIN came to me when I turned to see I was being followed by a little red bird.

The team at Sherwood Forest do so much to bring this landscape alive for visitors. Many of the trees on the paths have signs by them that give the trees names and histories, such as Stumpy and Rotten Roger. Some of these trees made it into the book, including a special tree I was shown on a walk, which I called Easter Egg, as its insides were completely hollow, but that I’ve never been able to find again!

I’ve been lucky enough to go back to Sherwood Forest many times since that first visit, including to be Writer in Residence as I researched the book. Each time I visit, I feel I take something new from the landscape. And it’s always so wonderful to watch the effect it has on others as they step under the canopy of branches, too. Just like Eddie, whatever mask they were wearing on the way in drops, and they can breathe into a space that asks them to be nothing but themselves.

Sarah Ann Juckes, November 2025