Author Jenny Clark, also runs The Wild Times yoga retreats
FORMER Priestlands pupil and yoga retreat founder Jenny Clark is set to release her first children’s book to mark World Earth Day.
Linking to a range of family friendly nature activities, Imagine a World celebrates the incredible natural wonders of the earth in brilliant technicolour. It is aimed at children aged three to eight years old, with link to activities which support nature and help the planet.
Jenny is set to celebrate the launch with a family fun afternoon and book reading at Palais des Vaches art gallery in Exbury on Easter Monday from 12 noon to 2.30pm.
Jenny (32) who grew up in Pennington, first discovered her passion for writing when she joined the school newspaper team at Milford Primary School. She said: “I’ve only wanted to be a writer since I was, I don’t know, 4 years old, so it’s just so lovely that it actually finally exists in the world.”
Jenny continued: “I had the idea for Imagine A World years ago, and wrote most of it when I was living on the coast in Morocco, just before I got locked down out there in 2020.”
“I’ve always thought about how there are so many beautiful bamboozling things in the world that already exist that you’d think could have been made up or in Avatar or a cartoon - but they’re really real - like volcanoes, the aurora borealis and aurora Australis, honeybees, jellyfish and so so much more.”
After studying history of Art at Warwick University, Jenny had a number of local jobs including working at Hurst Castle, at The Haven in Lymington and onboard sailing boats in the Solent. She then became a yoga teacher in 2018 - launching bespoke yoga retreats with her business The Wild Times in 2021.
Jenny said: “Since then I’ve created and held 55 retreats across the UK, Europe and Africa for almost 800 guests - some of whom are now on their 8th or 9th Wild Times retreat! The Wild Times has been featured in Grazia, The Times, The Guardian and Lonely Planet, and we’ve curated workshops and retreats with some amazing companies including Soho House and Lucy & Yak.”
She continued: “I particularly love bringing people to the New Forest and have run lots of yoga, swimming, walking and paddleboarding retreats in Tiptoe and also at Pylewell Park in Lymington.”
After writing out her first draft for Imagine A World, Jenny contacted artist Katie O’Rourke and sent her some draft ideas for images. Jenny said: “I sent her my quite terrible stick man drawings, and somehow she managed to create these beautiful illustrations.” .
Jenny didn’t contact publishers immediately, but waited another year before she felt ready to move forward. However, after sending out her ideas she received a reply from Award Books just a few days later. She said: “I couldn’t believe it, it was really going to happen! A few weeks later we signed the contract.”
In the last year Jenny has spent more time adding extra pages and illustrations, creating a range of nature based activities to link to the story and partnering with the charity Rewilding Britain to make a donation for each book sold.
Imagine a World will be released on World Earth Day and to celebrate the launch Jenny will be at Palais des Vaches Art Gallery in Exbury on Easter Monday (21st April) from 12 noon to 2.30pm for booking readings, wild flower seed bomb making and an Easter Egg Hunt. To pre-order Imagine A World visit www.thewildtimes.co. Copies will also be on sale in It’s available in Waterstones, WH Smith, Bookshop.org and on Amazon.
