A beautiful gift edition of this classic fable about one man's quest to create a forest, with a new introduction by Richard Mabey. In 1910, while hiking through the wild lavender in a wind-swept, desolate valley in Provence, a man comes across a shepherd called Elzeard Bouffier. Staying with him, he watches Elzeard sorting and then planting hundreds of acorns as he walks through the wilderness. Ten years later, after the war, he visits the shepherd again and sees the young forest he has created spreading slowly over the valley. Elzeard's solitary, silent work continues and the narrator returns year after year to see the miracle he is gradually creating: a verdant, green landscape that is a testament to one man's creative instinct.

One of the greatest writers of our generation -- Andre Malraux
Thoughtful and potent, this captivating tale of nature and nurture will bring a smile to many lips * Connexion *
The Man Who Planted Trees...is really special to me - it's a book I give away to people a lot -- Kevin McCloud * Mail on Sunday *
A book for children from 8 to 80. I love the humanity of this story and how one man's efforts can change the future for so many -- Michael Morpurgo * Indpendent *
Giono's images of Provence have a hypnotic violence akin to Van Gogh at his most vivid, but he also provides a great story, not least one of love * Mail on Sunday *

Jean Giono (Author) Jean Giono was born in 1895 in Manosque, Provence, and lived there most of his life. He supported his family working as a bank clerk for eighteen years before his first two novels were published, thanks to the generosity of Andre Gide, to critical acclaim. He went on to write thirty novels, including The Horseman on the Roof, and numerous essays and stories. In 1953, the year in which he wrote The Man who Planted Trees, he was awarded the Prix Monegasque for his collective work. Jean Giono died in October 1970.Harry Brockway (Illustrator) Harry Brockway was born in 1958 and studied sculpture at Kingston Art School and at the Royal Academy, where he learned engraving. He makes a living as a stonemason as well as a wood engraver.