The Various

The Various is a children's fantasy novel written and illustrated by Steve Augarde, published in 2003. It is the first book of the Touchstone Trilogy which continues with Celandine and Winter Wood. The trilogy tells the story of the hidden tribes of little people who live in a tangled forest on a hill in Somerset, and their interactions with the children at the farm on whose land the hill stands. The tribes, who call themselves the 'Various', live difficult, self-sufficient lives, always in fear of discovery by the 'Gorji', or giants, as they call the humans who now dominate the countryside. The Various won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize Bronze Award, was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal.