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Dara McAnulty is a multi-award winning autistic author, naturalist and conservationist from Northern Ireland.
After writing his blog Naturalist Dara for over three years, he published his debut book, Diary of a Young Naturalist, which won the 2020 Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing, and was longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize – the youngest ever author to do so. Dara then went on to win The Booksellers Association ‘Books Are My Bag Readers Award’ for Non-fiction, the An Post Irish Book Awards Newcomer of the Year, and his last award (so far!) was the British Book Awards Narrative Non-fiction Book of the Year. Dara first began to make his mark in 2019, aged just 15, when be became the youngest recipient of the RSPB Medal for conservation.
Dara has also written two children’s books, ‘Wild Child: A Journey Through Nature’ and ‘A Wild Child’s Book of Birds’. Wild Child was long-listed for a Blue Peter Book Award and was shortlisted for The Wainwright Prize and Stanford’s Travel Writing Prize, both in the children’s category.
In 2022 Dara broke records again, when he became the youngest recipient on King Charles III’s first New Year’s Honours List. He was awarded a BEM for services to nature and the autistic community.
Dara is a passionate and fervent campaigner for the natural world, a dedicated fundraiser, philanthropist, volunteer and wildlife recorder. He divides his time between Cambridge, where he is studying Natural Sciences at Queens’ College and County Down, where he lives with his family (including Rosie the rescue greyhound) at the foot of the Mourne Mountains, beside the sea.
"This diary chronicles the turning of my world, from spring to winter, at home, in the wild, in my head."
Diary of a Young Naturalist is a powerful and scintillating portrayal of the beauty of the natural world, as it shines a light on autism and of overcoming severe anxiety. It is a story of the binding love of family and home, and how we can help each other through the most difficult of times.
Join Dara on a nature walk and experience the joy of connecting with the natural world.
This beautiful gift book, illustrated in full colour by Barry Falls, is divided into five sections: looking out of the window, venturing out into the garden, walking in the woods, investigating heathland and wandering on the river bank.
Dara pauses to tell you about each habitat and provides fantastic facts about the native birds, animals and plants you will find there.
Join Dara on a journey through a year in the life of birds.
This beautiful, informative book takes you through a year in the life of the birds you will find in Britain and Ireland and is divided into four sensational seasonal sections. Find out what birds do in each season, learn about birdsong, beaks, nests and eggs, the science of flight, migration, what to grow to attract different birds to your garden and what foods to put out on your bird table.
