Review
Sumptuously illustrated… the poems or nature summoning spells are indebted to Gerard Manley Hopkins with rich alliteration, word-play and compound adjectives [and] the illustrations make plants and creatures luminous against backgrounds of gold leaf (The Sunday Times)
One of the most striking and poignant picture books of the season…this giant tome contains not only beautiful illustrations but a haunting series of poems that read like a summoning back of the wild…a book in which every page seems like an act of love (Herald)
Sumptuous…a book combining meticulous wordcraft with exquisite illustrations deftly restores language describing the natural world to the children’s lexicon… The Lost Words is a beautiful book and an important one (The Observer)
A breathtaking book… Jackie Morris has created something that you could spend all day looking at… This is the kind of complexity that can enthral a child as much as an adult… Refreshingly accessible, slightly magical (New Statesman)
One of the publishing sensations of recent times is The Lost Words (Daily Mail)
My top book of the year… It is one of those children’s books for ages up to 99 years. The lost words are those my generation and earlier ones used every day and which are fast disappearing, and Macfarlane’s aim is to resurrect the everyday glories of our language. May he succeed (Susan Hill)
Gilded and glorious, Jackie Morris’s paintings illustrate Robert Macfarlane’s acrostic poems in The Lost Words, one of the years loveliest books for all ages over 10 (The Sunday Times)
Rapturously received celebration of nature (The New Statesman)
Macfarlane is a changemaker… he has made nature-writing populis6t and big-selling. Morris’s paintings are beautiful – at once familiar and other. A contender for book of the year (The Big Issue)
‘deeply reflective and gorgeously illustrated…Morris’s paintings of wildlife echo the complexity and vibrancy of Macfarlane’s poetry’ (Publisher’s Weekly)
From the Inside Flap
From bestselling Landmarks author Robert Macfarlane and acclaimed artist & author Jackie Morris — a beautiful illustrated book for readers young and old
All over the country, there are words disappearing from children’s lives. These are the words of the natural world — Dandelion, Otter, Bramble and Acorn, all gone. The rich landscape of wild imagination and wild play is rapidly fading from our children’s minds.
The Lost Words stands against the disappearance of wild childhood. It is a joyful celebration of nature words and the natural world they invoke. With acrostic spell-poems by award-winning writer Robert Macfarlane and hand-painted illustration by Jackie Morris, this enchanting book captures the irreplaceable magic of language and nature for all ages
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THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE CILIP KATE GREENAWAY MEDAL 2019WINNER OF THE BEAUTIFUL BOOK AWARD 2017SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR NATURE WRITING 2018’The most beautiful and thought-provoking book I’ve read this year’ Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Observer’Gorgeous to look at and to read. Give it to a child to bring back the magic of language – and its scope’ Jeanette Winterson, Guardian’Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris have made a thing of astonishing beauty’ Alex Preston, Observer ‘My top book of the year’ Susan Hill, SpectatorFrom the outstanding creative partnership of Robert Macfarlane (Underland, The Old Ways) and Jackie Morris (Tell Me a Dragon, The Snow Leopard)All over the country, there are words disappearing from children’s lives. These are the words of the natural world – Dandelion, Otter, Bramble and Acorn, all gone. The rich landscape of wild imagination and wild play is rapidly fading from our children’s minds.The Lost Words stands against the disappearance of wild childhood. It is a joyful celebration of nature words and the natural world they invoke. With acrostic spell-poems by award-winning writer Robert Macfarlane and hand-painted illustration by Jackie Morris, this enchanting book captures the irreplaceable magic of language and nature for all ages.