The Lost Words

A Spell Book

By: Jackie Morris, Robert Macfarlane

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Hardcover | 5 October 2017 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
128 Pages

Age
5+

Dimensions(cm)
38.5 x 29 x 2

Hardcover

RRP $49.99

$47.75

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Once upon a time, words began to vanish from the language of children. They disappeared so quietly that at first almost no one noticed - until one day, they were gone.

But there is an old kind of magic for finding what is missing, and for summoning what has gone. If the right spells are spoken, the lost words can be brought back . . .

All over the country, there are words disappearing from children's lives. Words like Dandelion, Otter, Bramble, Acorn and Lark represent the natural world of childhood, a rich landscape of discovery and imagination that is fading from children's minds.

The Lost Words stands against the disappearance of wild childhood. It is a joyful celebration of the poetry of nature words and the living glory of our distinctive, British countryside. With acrostic spell-poems by peerless wordsmith Robert Macfarlane and hand-painted illustrations by Jackie Morris, this enchanting book captures the irreplaceable magic of language and nature for all ages.

About the Author

Robert Macfarlane won the Guardian First Book Award, the Somerset Maugham Award, and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award for his first book, Mountains of the Mind. His second, The Wild Places, won three prizes and was adapted for the BBC. The Old Ways was joint winner of the Dolman Travel Book of the Year Award, and shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize and eight other awards. He is a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

Industry Reviews

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 *
Publisher's description. An illustrated spell-book in watercolour and gold leaf, from the rich creative minds of award-winning author Robert Macfarlane and acclaimed artist Jackie Morris. As nature vanishes from children's language and their imagination, The Lost Words stands against the loss of magic, celebrating the joy of wild childhood and wild places. * Penguin *

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