A Little Boy Lost

William Henry Hudson (1841-1922) was an author, naturalist and ornithologist. He was born near Buenos Aires, Argentina, the son of US settlers of English and Irish origin, and spent his youth studying the local fauna and flora. He settled in England in 1874 and went on to produce a series of ornithological studies including Argentine Ornithology (1888-99) and British Birds (1895). He later achieved fame with his books on the English countryside such as Hampshire Days (1903), with his book A Shepherd's Life (1910) helping to foster the back-to-nature movement of the 1920s and 30s. He was also the author of several works of fiction for adults and children. An advocate of Lamarckian evolution, Hudson was a critic of Darwinism and was influenced by the non-Darwinian evolutionary writings of Samuel Butler. He was a founding member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. This children's fantasy tale first published in 1905 tells the story of a young boy named Martin who travels a little further from his house each day until he reaches a mystical land full of talkative animals, friendly gnomes and mist people. Reprinted from the Knopf American edition of 1920 with illustrations by Dorothy P Lathrop.