The Penguin books that challenged our view of the environment

For as long as humans have been writing, the natural world has been a source of inspiration, symbolism and impassioned arguments for its protection. This has been an integral part of Penguin’s story, too. Since 1935, our publishing has helped bring revelatory scientific ideas to light, shaped public policy, inspired readers to see the beauty of nature, and made activists of a new generation.

To celebrate Penguin’s 90^th birthday, we look back at the 12 books that have had the biggest impact on the world around us – and you can jump straight to the list by clicking here. But first, we asked Mya-Rose Craig, the author of Birdgirl, to reflect on the importance of nature writing and the Penguin book that feels more timely than ever.

Mya-Rose Craig on the impact of environmental writing

I grew up in a home full of towering shelves filled with books all about birds and wildlife, and spent much of my childhood exploring their beautifully illustrated pages. When not reading I was outside, seeking out nature in real life, but I still loved returning to those books. There was something enchanting about having a piece of the outdoors in my living room.  

I wrote my own books to explain my love of birds to the many who had never understood it, and to have people returning to me to say that they understand – or that they have started birdwatching themselves – is the highest compliment I receive.  

Any book lover will agree that books have the power to change the world and have long done so, shaping our understanding of the world around us and what we want the future to look like. In the 19th Century, critics wrote vivid descriptions of paintings that most would never experience first-hand, igniting an admiration for works that people had never seen. One such review is regarded as starting a global fascination with the Mona Lisa, an otherwise small, unassuming portrait. Environmental writing holds similar potential. As humans, we increasingly see ourselves as separate and independent from nature, but these books remind us that we are part of it and responsible for it. The titles on this list are more than books, they are catalysts that have shaped culture and inspired people to care, and that is where change really begins.  

My top pick: Waterlog by Roger Deakin

Waterlog by Roger Deakin is a journey through the rivers, lakes, and pools of the UK but, more than that, it is a quiet reflection on the state of the British countryside. Each body of water becomes a lens through which Deakin explores history, ecology, and local culture. He portrays the countryside not as an untouched, idealised wilderness, but as an entity shaped and loved by its inhabitants. Although beautiful, there is also a sense of melancholy throughout as he mourns what has been lost to, or damaged by, pollution, neglect, and privatisation. Despite this, it is also hopeful, and even the smallest encounters with nature feel magical. His deep love for wild swimming is palpable, and Waterlog is widely credited with sparking the modern wild swimming movement. As that movement grows, Deakin’s observations feel more timely and vital than ever.

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We’ve gathered some of our favourite books from across 90 years of Penguin’s publishing and now we need your help to create the ultimate ‘Reader’s choice’ list selected from The Penguin books that shaped us series. 

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12 more books that shaped our perspective on the environment

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson (1962)

First made a Penguin paperback in 1965, biologist Rachel Carson’s book about the dangers of pesticides became a – perhaps unlikely – runaway bestseller. Silent Spring’s stark revelations about the threat that misusing pesticides posed to wildlife and the food chain spurred on the formation of a grassroots environment movement which, in turn, led to the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Some six decades later, the book has gone down in history as a hugely influential and prophetic examination of how destructive unfettered human intervention can be for the environment.

A Kestrel for a Knave by Barry Hines (1968) 

Barry Hines’ 1968 novel concerns itself not with verdant landscapes and deep blue oceans, but a cold, gritty mining town in the north of England. It is the coming-of-age story of Billy, a young boy with a troubled home and school life, who discovers an unlikely passion when he finds an abandoned kestrel egg. He goes on to nurture and train the bird that hatches from it, in a touching story that exemplifies the sense of solace and identity that connection to the natural world can bring. The book’s decades-long spot in British school curricula and Ken Loach-directed 1970 film adaptation Kes further cemented its place in pop culture for decades to come.

The Revenge of Gaia by James Lovelock (2006)

In the 1970s, scientist and environmentalist James Lovelock, and biologist Lynn Margulis, developed the Gaia hypothesis, which posits that the Earth can be viewed as a single, self-regulating organism where living and non-living parts interact to sustain life on the planet. The theory proved controversial among the scientific community at the time, but was met with growing acceptance in subsequent decades, with over 1,000 scientists agreeing that Earth “behaves as a single self-regulating system comprised of physical, chemical, biological and human components” in 2001. The Revenge of Gaia, one of Lovelock’s first non-academic books on the topic, offered a stark warning of what the future holds for the environment and made the case for taking immediate and necessary action before it’s too late.

Unbowed by Wangari Maathai (2006)

Unbowed is the story of Wangari Maathai, a woman who made history several times over: she was elected to parliament in Kenya’s first free elections in a generation in 2002, became the first woman to earn a doctorate degree in east and central Africa in 1971, and in 2004 became the first African woman to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. She also founded the Green Belt Movement in 1997, which leveraged networks of women in rural communities to plant over 30 million trees. Her writing featured in Penguin’s Green Ideas series in 2021, further enshrining her work for new generations to discover.

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (2013) 

Weaving together the scientific expertise of Robin Wall Kimmerer, a botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, with Indigenous wisdom, Braiding Sweetgrass is a moving exploration of how we can forge a better, more reciprocal relationship with natural ecosystems. The 2013 book became a word-of-mouth bestseller in the years after its publication, resonating with millions of readers, and was picked up by Penguin in 2020. Its far-reaching impact is evident in the artwork of Jenny Holzer, the fiction of award-winning author Richard Powers, and countless other creative projects and non-profit programmes aimed at restoring and regenerating native land.

The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris (2017) 

Writer Robert Macfarlane and illustrator Jackie Morris came together to publish The Lost Words after learning that nature-related words were dropping out of the Oxford Junior Dictionary, as flora and fauna increasingly faded from children’s vocabularies and imaginations. From acorns to otters, bluebells to ravens, the acrostic poetry and accompanying watercolours of this book have enchanted hundreds of thousands of readers of all ages. Since its publication in 2017, The Lost Words has been donated to hundreds of schools and hospices across the UK and spearheaded the teaching of “nature literacy” in some primary and secondary schools.

The Overstory by Richard Powers (2018) 

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2019 and shortlisted for the Booker Prize the year prior, Richard Powers’ multi-million-copy bestselling novel brought fresh focus and mainstream interest to the genre of eco-fiction. Its vast narrative weaves the stories of nine strangers, each with a unique connection to the natural world – in particular, trees – as they are brought together and witness an unfolding natural catastrophe. Much like the giant trees that outlive generations, The Overstory’s message and unique perspective on the natural world stayed with fans, ranging from Barbara Kingsolver to Barack Obama, long after they turned the final page.  

No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg (2019) 

In August 2018, at just 15 years old, Greta Thunberg sparked a wave of global activism when she went on a school strike to demand climate action from lawmakers. Her message was simple and direct: an urgent call to protect a habitable world for young people and future generations. She was soon joined by millions of young people across the world, in what became known as the Fridays for Future movement. No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference, published little over a year after she began her school strikes, is a compilation of Thunberg’s rousing, inspirational speeches, from the megaphones of climate protests in Europe to the podium of the U.N.'s Climate Action Summit in New York.  

This Is Not A Drill by Extinction Rebellion (2019)

Much like Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future school strikes, Extinction Rebellion, a UK-founded global environmental movement, galvanised a new generation of climate activists with their disruptive, visually striking demonstrations of non-violent disobedience, underpinned by demands for institutions to tell the truth about the scale of the crisis, take immediate action, and form a citizens’ assembly for climate justice. The publication of This Is Not A Drill followed Extinction Rebellion’s high-profile month of protests in 2019, and captures an array of expert voices and moving testimonies from the frontlines of today’s climate crisis.  

A Life on Our Planet by David Attenborough (2020) 

Sir David Attenborough’s decades-long career has been dedicated to bringing the beauty – and, sometimes, brutality – of the natural world to our screens. In recent years, however, his work has also highlighted the urgent environmental and biodiversity crisis facing our planet. A Life on Our Planet, accompanied by a Netflix documentary of the same name, is a “witness statement” from Attenborough that serves as a stark, unflinching warning about the devastating effects of climate change on our ecosystems. The book’s publication also saw the launch of a dedicated environmental imprint, publishing authors including Ruth Allen and Dara McNulty, at Penguin publishing division Ebury.

Unearthed by Claire Ratinon (2022)

Environmental writing has long been intertwined with conversations about intersectionality, climate justice, and the reverberations of colonialism. One recent example of this is Unearthed, by organic food grower Claire Ratinon. Combining memoir and nature writing, Ratinon explores how her experiences as a person of colour who only ever lived in cities made her feel disconnected from nature – and how growing her first-ever garden in rural England gave her the space to forge a sense of belonging with nature and connect with her Mauritian heritage. Unearthed is at once deeply personal and universal in the questions it poses about identity, roots, and what it means to cultivate the land around us.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey (2023)

If prioritising our environment ever needed to be put into stark perspective, Samantha Harvey’s slim yet sweeping novel about a space crew observing our only home planet from afar did just that. Orbital made history in 2024 as the first book set in space to scoop the prestigious Booker Prize, and again a year later when it was shortlisted for the inaugural Climate Fiction Prize. The novel offers a unique perspective on what it means to witness – and inhabit – the fluctuations, natural disasters and awe-inspiring beauty of Planet Earth. The result is an immersive read that is at once expansive and deeply human in its scope.

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