Dear Mira
For Young Lovers of Nature
A monthly letter from the field, for curious children aged 7–11.
The Story
Somewhere in the Banda Sea, aboard a naval vessel whose charts grow more detailed by the week, a scientist named Edmund Carew is writing to his niece.
He writes about the creatures he finds — fish that walk, lichen that outlives empires, birds whose migrations cross entire continents. He draws what he sees, presses what he can, and posts it all home to Mira from whichever port the captain considers it convenient to stop at. The letters take months to arrive. Mira reads them until the folds wear thin.
From Mira's Notebook
My Uncle Edmund knows the name of everything.
Not just the English name — the Latin name, the local name, the name sailors use and the name scientists argue about. He says that naming a thing properly is the beginning of understanding it, and that most people never get that far because they don't stop long enough to look.
He has been away for two years now. I know where he is from his letters — the Banda Islands, Batavia, the northern coast of somewhere I had to find in Papa's atlas. The ship he travels on belongs to the Navy, which Uncle Edmund says is simply a matter of convenience. I have noticed that Captain Holt seems to decide where they go more often than Edmund does, but when I asked him about this he changed the subject to a rather extraordinary species of sea cucumber, and I forgot what I had been asking.
Papa's work takes him all over — he is a land surveyor, and England has a great deal of land — and so I go where he goes, or where he can arrange for me to be. Aunt Cressida takes me in the autumn. There are others in spring. I have learned to find the interesting thing in wherever I find myself, which Uncle Edmund says is the most useful skill a naturalist can have.
I miss him very much. But he taught me how to look at things, and so I take his letters outside and I look, and it is almost like having him here.
— Mira Ashworth, April 1883
Each month, Mira writes to you from somewhere in the British Isles — a Highland churchyard, a river valley in Wales, a harbour wall in Cornwall. She tells you what she has found, what she has learned, and what Edmund's latest letter contained. She asks you to look for something. She hopes you will write back.
What Arrives Each Month
Five distinct items, delivered to your door
Mira's Letter
A full narrative letter from the field. A chapter in an ongoing story, written as personal correspondence.
Edmund's Letter
A letter from somewhere far away, with a reproduction of a historical scientific illustration enclosed.
The Naturalist's Card
A postcard-sized reference card. Scientific illustration on the front, field notes on the back. Made to keep.
Mira's Field Sketch
A loose reproduction from Mira's notebook. Not perfect art — useful observation.
Your Observation Card
A small card with four prompts. Fill it in, post it back to Mira. She reads everything.
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