Young Naturalist Series: Forest Magic with Author Susie Spikol

Come create some forest magic!✨Titcomb’s Bookshop and the Barnstable Land Trust present Young Naturalist Series: Forest Magic with Author Susan Spikol on Thursday, August 14th at 2:00pm at Fuller Farm in Marstons Mills. This event is perfect for families with children ages 4-9!

• LEARN about Susie Spikol's new book, Forest Magic for Kids, in a short talk followed by a book signing
• CREATE your very own magical craft
• PLAY a creative outdoor activity

Forest Magic for Kids is a playful activity guide that invites children, families, educators, and caregivers to explore the imaginative spaces that nature holds for all of us. From gnome homes and elfin picnics to secret forts and wee mice adventures, discover how you too can find a bit of magic in the wild! As Susie says: “My books aren’t just for reading, they are for doing.”

This event is part of Titcomb's Bookshop's Young Naturalists event series, highlighting 3 children's books about nature that inspire kids and families to engage with the world around them with imagination and care.

This is a free event with a suggested donation to the Barnstable Land Trust. There is limited capacity, so registration is required. Books will be for sale at the event, and Susan will sign them after her presentation. If you cannot attend but would like a signed copy of the book, please order on Titcomb’s Bookshop’s website.

Please note: Carpooling is encouraged due to limited parking capacity!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Your enchanted guide to 50+ magical activities for everything from finding hidden flower fairies in your own backyard and making a special wizard staff to creating a tiny woodland village and making your own forest potions.

“A delightful outdoor handbook to ignite curiosity and a passion for nature, this is a great resource for nature units as well as hands-on activities to bring a creative writing program to life.” —School Library Journal

Come discover the wild magic tucked into the nooks and crannies of forests, thickets, and meadows. Search for fairy dusted glow-in-the-dark mushrooms. Find secret worlds hidden in trees and uncover the tunnels, trails, and dens of gnomes and trolls, and mice and moles. Learn to listen to the forest, make sun-warmed pine tea, and wear an evergreen crown to an elf picnic.

Look inside to learn how to:

• Keep a secret notebook filled with maps, notes, and pockets for all your discoveries
• Go on a quest for wild treasures
• Follow a queen bumblebee to her castle
• Make your own forest teas and potions
• Become best friends with a tree
• Create tiny gnomes and build cozy gnome homes
• Seek where mushrooms grow after a fairy dance
• Carve a walking stick wizard staff
• Build your own hidden forest fort

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ever since she can remember, naturalist and writer Susie Spikol has always looked for where nature and story meet. Her love of nature didn’t start with science. It grew out of a rich diet of fairy tales and legends. While out searching her Brooklyn neighborhood for fairies, gnomes, and other magical creatures, she remembers being charmed by fireflies and enchanted by snails.

Over the course of her 30-year career as a naturalist, she has taught thousands of children, parents, and teachers and given hundreds of public talks at nature centers, schools, colleges, universities, libraries, and conferences. She is currently a naturalist at the Harris Center for Conservation Education in Hancock, New Hampshire. She has received numerous awards, including the Garden Club of America’s Hull Award, New Hampshire’s Environmental Educator Award, and the New Hampshire Association of Conservation Districts Educator of the Year.

When not catching frogs with preschoolers, making gnome homes with second-graders, tracking bobcats with middle-schoolers, or hawk-watching with her own three children, Susie tucks away time to write. Look for her writing in Yankee, Northern Woodlands, and the Center for Humans and Nature magazine. Several of her essays have been featured in environmental educator and author David Sobel’s books.

Her first book, published in 2022, The Animal Adventurer’s Guide: How to Prowl for Owls, Make Snail Slime, and Catch a Frog Bare-Handed, was recognized with a National Parenting Products Award.

Her new book Forest Magic for Kids: How to Find for Fairies, Make a Secret Fort, and Cook Up an Elfin Picnic is filled with activities inspired by imagination, folklore, and science. This book is an invitation to all readers to step outside and discover the beauty and magic of the world.

And coming in the Fall of 2025, Susie’s will be casting a spell over people of all ages. www.susiespikol.com.

ABOUT BARNSTABLE LAND TRUST

Barnstable Land Trust is a community-supported nonprofit whose mission is to preserve the natural resources and special places in the Town of Barnstable and nearby areas.

Host or Publisher Titcomb's Bookshop