Starling can trap a rabbit, cook a meal from a hedge and hear a bailiff coming from a mile off. All she has ever known is a nomadic existence, travelling in a converted van with Mar, her strong-willed mother. But Mar has cut them off from their community, and this winter they're stuck in deep mud in a wood, with no fuel, no money and no friends. One morning, without explanation, Mar leaves and doesn't come back. Utterly alone, Starling must learn to survive without her mother and build a life on her own terms. An offer to stay with an old friend draws her into a more conventional way of living - but can rootless Starling ever find a place where she truly belongs?

Twelve sessions for Messy Churches to do outdoors, created by a Messy Church Goes Wild writer team, enhanced by additions from scientists, and piloted in urban and rural Messy Churches. Session titles: Wild and wilderness!, Wet and wild!, Wild and rocky!, Wild and weedy!, Wild woods!, Wild weather!, Wild on the wing!, Wild and wiggly!, Wild safari!, Wild me!, Wild on the move!, Wild life! Unit writers: Aaron Jenkyn, Helen Laird, Dawn Savidge, Rachel Gotobed, Becky May, Lydia Harrison, Jane Leadbetter, Lucy Moore Scientists: Dave Gregory, John Sibley, Karen Fisher, Martin Hodson, Mike Morecroft, Graham Hartland, Andy Gosler, Mavis Crispin/Tom Hartman, David Clough, Richard Clarkson, Margot Hodson

Starling can trap a rabbit, cook a meal from a hedge and hear a bailiff coming from a mile off. All she has ever known is a nomadic existence, travelling in a camper van with Mar, her strong-willed mother. But Mar has cut them off from their community, and this winter they're stuck in deep mud in a wood, with no fuel, no money and no friends. One morning, without explanation, Mar leaves and doesn't come back. Utterly alone, Starling must learn to survive without her mother and build a life on her own terms. An offer to stay with an old friend draws her into a more conventional way of living - but can rootless Starling ever find a place where she truly belongs?

This text proposes an alternate view of learning, as synonymous with a change in the meaning of experience, as opposed to the traditional view of learning, as synonymous with behavior change. It includes classroom-tested strategies designed to help students integrate thinking, feeling and acting.