Chatting about The Rewilders with Lindsay Littleson - by Joan Haig

 

Cranachan Publishing has just been named as this year's Small Press of the Year (Scotland) in the British Book Awards! For those of you who don’t know, Cranachan is a couple-run independent publisher of children’s books with a Scottish flavour, based on a croft on the Isle of Lewis.

 

Cranachan publishes award-winning books and one of their best-known and best-loved authors – and also their best-selling one – is the marvellous Lindsay Littleson. This week, Lindsay’s next middle-grade novel, The Rewilders, is released in all its sprayed-edged glory. The cover is a picture of a lynx, in soft hues, and is gorgeous. A perfect casing for this story of the great outdoors and the great inner strength we can find within us.

I caught up with Lindsay to ask her a few questions.

So, rewilding... What's it all about? For or Against?

100% for! I’m totally in favour of rewilding Scotland. Restoring our natural landscapes will make a positive difference to us all. Protection isn’t enough, as so many of our ecosystems have been badly damaged and need to be properly restored. Our moorlands might look stunning but they weren’t always so bleak and barren.  Rewilding is about planting native trees, instead of acres of exotic conifers, and reviving damaged peatlands, in the hope of increasing Scotland’s biodiversity and restoring natural processes. Our temperate rainforests are internationally important, but there are only fragments left and these isolated fragments are unable to regenerate, because saplings are being damaged by grazing deer or being choked by invasive rhododendron. The idea of reintroducing wolves and lynx has been raised as a way of keeping deer on the move, helping to prevent overgrazing and damage to tree saplings. But as Peter Cairns says, the reintroduction of large predators is the icing on a cake that hasn’t yet been baked. There is so much work to be done first.

 

You've written books featuring creatures that are mythical and magical. What are the differences between writing those and writing real-world animals, like lynxes and wolves?

Before writing Guardians of the Wild Unicorns and Secrets of the Last Merfolk, I did a lot of research into both unicorn and merfolk legend, and incorporated some aspects into my stories. So, my unicorns have cloven hooves and my merfolk inhabit a rocky islet and sing sad songs.

However, I was able to create my own ‘legend’ or backstory for both my mythical creatures and make up details about their appearance and behaviour. When I was writing about real-world animals, those details needed to be factual and as accurate as possible. On a visit to the Highland Wildlife Park, I was lucky enough to see a lynx leaping into the air to catch a bird and it was a really inspiring sight. They are such magnificent, beautiful animals and it would be joyous if they, like beavers, could become a native species in Scotland once again.

As fiercely independent and reclusive creatures, my unicorns and merfolk actually have a lot in common with the real-world predators in The Rewilders. The importance of caring for our natural environment is a central theme in all three novels.

 

 

Can you tell us more about the intergenerational relationship in the story? Why did you take this angle?

I wanted my two characters to go on an exciting, quite risky adventure on their own in the Highlands. Parents nowadays tend to be very protective of their offspring and consequently reluctant to allow this sort of thing, which from an author’s point of view is rather inconvenient. 

 So, I needed Callum and Esme to be in the care of people who would be absolutely fine about encouraging them to spend a few days in the wild. Both Jean, Esme’s gran,  and Sadie, Callum’s foster mother, are independent, practical women. Sending the children on a mission to rewild the lynx the ladies have accidentally stolen from the Rothiecraig Estate seems a completely reasonable solution to their problem. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
The relationship between Callum and his foster mother is relatively new, but they’ve already developed a strong bond and I really enjoyed writing the dialogue between them. Callum was a very angry troubled boy when he arrived at the croft, and Sadie’s calm, practical nature and outdoor, hard-working lifestyle are just what he needs. And I hope it’s clear in the story that the gain has not been one-sided.   

 

There's definitely peril in this book, as there is in most of your fiction. What draws you to this?

In some stories, it’s impossible to avoid! In The Titanic Detective Agency,  I was dealing with a real-life disaster, and I had to keep the focus solely on what was happening to my main characters during the sinking scenes, as a wider view of the tragedy could easily have become too harrowing for a children’s story.  But incorporating an element of danger raises the stakes, builds tension and makes readers want to keep reading, so for adventure stores it’s probably a must. Peril in The Rewilders comes from both the natural world and from the children’s human enemy. The most enjoyable scene to write was Esme’s challenging encounter with a wolf.

She inhaled again, breathing in the sharp scent of pine. There were two things she had to do, right now: stop panicking, and stop staring at the wolf.

When she glanced around, she spotted it immediately: a possible escape route. A few metres away, a huge horse- chestnut tree stretched its limbs to the sky, its leaves a riot of green, gold, crimson and orange: its branches hopefully solid. Warily, she took a step backwards. The wolf watched her, unmoving. She took another step, and was suddenly reminded of playing What’s the Time, Mr Wolf? at break-time in infants. Although the playground game had never been this terrifying. Her boots squelched in a muddy puddle, and the noise made her freeze, every muscle tensed. When she stole a glance at the wolf, he seemed to have moved closer.

What if he attacks? Am I close enough to the tree? If I run for it, will I reach it in time?

The truth was, she had no idea if she could outrun a wolf. Slowly, cautiously, she took another two steps back, her boots crunching now on the carpet of rotting leaves. She was almost there. Autumn sunlight shimmered through the branches of the chestnut tree, casting their shadows on the ground, faint promises of safety. But the wolf was padding towards her, long-limbed, on silent paws. She waved both arms in the air, but when she tried to yell, no sound came out. Her throat was desert-dry. The wolf stopped moving, just as he reached the leafy carpet. He made a strange noise in his throat, a cross between a growl and a bark. Esme gulped, as realisation dawned.

He’s calling to the rest of the pack.

 

Eeeep! Finally, what is it you'd like young readers to take with them from your story?

I would love them to be inspired to discover more about rewilding in Scotland. There are so many organisations working on rewilding projects, and they are very keen to engage children. Check out these websites for more information on how to get young people involved.

The Scottish Rewilding Alliance https://www.rewild.scot/

and Scotland:The Big Picture https://www.scotlandbigpicture.com/

Another theme of the book is bullying in school, and I hope reading both Esme and Callum’s perspectives might encourage young readers to consider the impact hurtful words can have on others and perhaps lead to class discussions about what they should do if they witness a classmate being bullied, or are being bullied themselves.

Thank you, Lindsay! And congratulations on this important story, which will open up lots of questions for young readers. I have so many more questions of my own, but I will have to save them for when I next see you when we are celebrating Cranachan's success at the Nibbies!

Lindsay Littleson can be found on Twitter @ljlittleson or www.lindsaylittleson.co.uk

The Rewilders is out with Cranachan Publishing – order direct with them or with your closest independent bookshop!