Children of the New Forest

A classic tale of historical adventure to be enjoyed by children and adults alike, set against the turbulent background of the English Civil War, as well as a charming coming-of-age story

It was in the month of November in this year that King Charles, accompanied by Sir John Berkely, Ashburnham, and Legg, made his escape from Hampton Court, and rode as fast as the horses could carry them toward that part of Hampshire which led to the New Forest . . .

It is 1647. Charles I has been defeated in the civil war, but has escaped captivity and is making for France. Parliamentary soldiers searching the New Forest decide to burn the house of Colonel Beverly, a royalist officer killed at the Battle of Naseby. His four children are rescued by their father's gamekeeper, Jacob, who takes them in. The children gradually shed their aristocratic sensibilities and adapt to the simple ways of the forest, working Jacob's farmstead and befriending other inhabitants of the woodland. But when Charles II raises an army and the specter of war returns to haunt the Beverly children, they realize they cannot hide from their true identity.

Frederick Marryat (1792–1848) was a naval officer, novelist, and contemporary of Charles Dickens. He is best known for his novels Mr. Midshipman Easy and Children of the New Forest, and for inventing the Marryat system of naval signaling. Michael Rosen is a British children's novelist and poet, and the author of 140 books. He was the fifth British Children's Laureate from June 2007 to June 2009, and his books include Quick Let’s Get Out of Here, Wouldn’t You Like to Know, and You Tell Me.