A new children’s book
“Love, like nature, never truly fades.”
A gentle story of love, loss and the nature that connects us, inspired by one family’s journey through grief. Join the list to hear the moment it’s out, and download a free colouring book today.
A story for the moments that are hard to put into words
Every Saturday, Isla pedals her pink bike along a winding path through the countryside to visit the woodland where her Nana now rests. Along the way, she discovers that the people we love never really leave us. They live on in the trees we sit beneath, the bees that visit the flowers and the robins that sing in the hedgerows.
The Tree & The Bee was written to help children, and the grown-ups beside them, talk about loss gently, with hope and with wonder at the natural world.
Where the story began
“Love does not disappear. It lives on in nature, in every tree and every bee.”
In 2022, I lost my mum. It was the first time grief had truly touched me, and it changed the way I saw the world.
Mum was not one for traditions. She chose to be laid to rest not in a churchyard, but in a woodland called Brocklands, deep in the Yorkshire Dales, looking over Pen-y-Ghent. We said goodbye with a horse-drawn carriage, cups of ‘Yorkshire’ tea, her favourite songs, and stories about how special she was.
Since then, that woodland has become something more than a resting place. It is where my daughter Isla and I go to feel close to Mum, among the trees, the birdsong and the changing seasons.
It is there that we found something we now believe with all our hearts: love does not disappear. It lives on in nature, in every tree and every bee.
That belief, and the comfort it has given Isla since she was three, is where The Tree & The Bee began.
Wherever you are in your own journey, we send you and your family the same comfort and gentle peace that Isla and I have found.
Isla visiting Nana at Brocklands, age 3.
A peek inside
Every page is painted in soft watercolour, full of the Yorkshire hills, woodlands and wildlife that run through the story. Look closely and you’ll find a little bee and a friendly robin following Isla wherever she goes.
Download a free colouring book
Printable colouring pages inspired by The Tree & The Bee, to enjoy together at the kitchen table, on a rainy afternoon or after a visit somewhere special. Pop in your email and you can download it straight away.
Follow the journey
Come along as The Tree & The Bee comes to life. We share behind-the-scenes illustrations, little moments from the woodland and all the latest launch news.
Where to buy
Find us in independent bookshops
You can find The Tree & The Bee on the shelves of these lovely independent bookshops. Pop in, say hello, and support your local bookseller.
Are you a bookshop that would like to stock the book? Get in touch.
Coming soon
The Tree & The Bee will be available on Amazon from Saturday 21st November. Join the list above and we’ll let you know the moment it’s out.
© 2026 Sapling Studios · Privacy notice · hello@saplingstudios.co.uk