Explore Margaret Gatty books at New West Press.

Margaret Gatty's Parables from Nature uses the lives and surroundings of plants and animals to explore moral and religious questions. These are imaginative parables, so the natural world provides both a setting and a language for reflection. A small creature or ordinary process can become the center of a story about patience, understanding, or the limits of a narrow viewpoint. This collection centers on Gatty's connected tales, inviting readers to discuss the relationship between the observed world and the meaning the author draws from it.

Readers can carry this interest in the natural world beyond the page by observing a garden, park, pond, or woodland. Compare the author's descriptions with what you actually see, and distinguish storytelling from direct observation. A nature journal can hold sketches, questions, and new vocabulary. These books offer a literary companion to curiosity about familiar creatures and their surroundings.