There are fewer grey seals in the world than endangered African elephants, but the British Isles host almost half of this global population. Every year these charismatic animals, with their expressive eyes and whiskers more sensitive than our fingertips, haul out on our shores to breed and raise their pups. As graceful in the sea as they might seem clumsy on land, grey seals have visited our shores and enriched our culture for centuries. Yet we still know relatively little about these captivating animals. As Susan Richardson journeys to the crags and crevices of the coast, she explores the mysteries and mythologies of seals, learning not just how they live but also how we ought to live with them. PRAISE FOR SUSAN RICHARDSON ‘Cut and precise, archaic and innovative, transcendent and in-the-moment, [Richardson] sees the life of the sea as a mirror of ourselves, and vice versa: always changing, always the same … Vital, glorious and salutary’ PHILIP HOARE, AUTHOR OF LEVIATHAN ‘[Richardson] writes in prehensile language, capable of grasping something vast, ancient, chthonic: the Earth in must’ JAY GRIFFITHS, AUTHOR OF WILD ‘Richardson beautifully marries the landscape of the polar regions with their – and her own – emotional topography’ SARA WHEELER Susan Richardson has always been entranced by seals; they seem to have surfaced at key junctions throughout her life, comforting her as an anxious child, bringing joy as she began to spread her wings as a writer and helping her to find her way after the loss of her mother. Now she sets out to trace the rhythm of their lives, travelling the coasts clockwise from Cornwall to Norfolk, in line with the autumn pupping season. Along the way she explores the myths surrounding seals, from their shapeshifting selkie skins to the claims that they decimate fish populations, and she discovers that the greatest dangers they face come from co-existing with us. Brimming with vivid descriptions of the natural world, Where the Seals Sing is a lyrical tale of memory, rescue and rehabilitation. While loss, both personal and ecological, is a recurring theme, the human–seal connection that flows through the story is stirring and uplifting.

There are fewer grey seals in the world than endangered African elephants, but the British Isles host almost half of this global population. Every year these charismatic animals, with their expressive eyes and whiskers more sensitive than our fingertips, haul out on our shores to breed and raise their pups. Susan Richardson has always been entranced by seals; they seem to have surfaced at key junctions throughout her life, comforting her as an anxious child, bringing joy as she began to spread her wings as a writer and helping her to find her way after the loss of her mother. Now she sets out to trace the rhythm of their lives, travelling the coasts clockwise from Cornwall to Norfolk, in line with the autumn pupping season. Along the way she explores the myths surrounding seals, from their shapeshifting selkie skins to the claims that they decimate fish populations, and she discovers that the greatest dangers they face come from co-existing with us. Brimming with vivid descriptions of the natural world, Where the Seals Sing is a lyrical tale of memory, rescue and rehabilitation. While loss, both personal and ecological, is a recurring theme, the human-seal connection that flows through the story is stirring and uplifting.

A how-to guide to integrate children and youth with special needs into church programs and activities, including worship. Integrating children and teens with learning differences into church programs is a growing priority for nearly all congregations, large and small, yet many feel ill-equipped to "manage" those with special needs in their classrooms, programs and worship. This guidebook for churches is designed to help integrate children and teens with learning differences and their families into the fabric of everyday church life. A useable on-the-ground resource for church leaders with specific suggestions, samples, and processes for adapting curricula, training volunteers, and supporting parents and caregivers, this guide is grounded in theological principles for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the life of a congregation. Begins by focusing on human relationships instead of programs. Expanding the church's awareness and understanding of inclusion is done with respect and achieved by extending the gospel of welcome to all. An extensive annotated bibliography of support materials included.Includes how to train volunteers and staff for hands-on work with children and youth who have special needs. Provides a theological grounding for the inclusion of people with learning differences and disabilities in the life of a congregation. Integrating children and teens with learning differences into church programs is a growing priority for nearly all congregations, large and small, yet many feel ill-equipped to "manage" those with special needs in their classrooms, programs and worship. This guidebook for churches is designed to help integrate children and teens with learning differences and their families into the fabric of everyday church life. A useable on-the-ground resource for church leaders with specific suggestions, samples, and processes for adapting curricula, training volunteers, and supporting parents and caregivers, this guide is grounded in theological principles for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the life of a congregation. Begins by focusing on human relationships instead of programs. Expanding the church's awareness and understanding of inclusion is done with respect and achieved by extending the gospel of welcome to all. An extensive annotated bibliography of support materials included.Includes how to train volunteers and staff for hands-on work with children and youth who have special needs. Provides a theological grounding for the inclusion of people with learning differences and disabilities in the life of a congregation."

Combining poetry with the long essay, 'Thirty Ways of Looking at the Sea', which charts her involvement with the Marine Conservation Society as resident poet as they launched an appeal to tackle the threats facing thirty marine species, Words the Turtle Taught Me sees Susan Richardson writing at the height of her powers as a poet, an ecological campaigner and as a writer about the process of composing inventive, compelling poems.

Susan is regarded as a witty, lyrical and inventive poet, who deals with social and environmental issues as well as with the more intimate and personal. Her first full-length collection, Creatures of the Intertidal Zone, has just been published by Cinnamon Press and was launched at the Norwegian Church Arts Centre in Cardiff. The book was written after Susan was awarded a Churchill Travel Fellowship to journey through Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland in the footsteps of Gudrid, an intrepid tenth/eleventh century female Viking.