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The Lost Words: Rediscover our natural world with this spellbinding book

Book
The Lost Words: Rediscover our natural world with this spellbinding book by Robert Macfarlane, and Jackie Morris

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By Robert Macfarlane, and and, Jackie Morris

avg rating

26 reviews

A timeless, beautifully designed gift for children and adults alike, The Lost Words is a gift that will be poured over and cherished for years to come.

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. A wild landscape of imagination and play is rapidly fading from our children’s minds.

The Lost Words stands against the disappearance of wild childhood. It is a joyful celebration – in art and word – of nearby nature and its wonders. With acrostic spell-poems by award-winning writer Robert Macfarlane and illustrations by Jackie Morris, this enchanting book evokes the irreplaceable magic of language and nature for all ages.

  • Discover The Lost Spells, the magical companion book from the creators of a literary phenomenon. *

Praise for The Lost Words:

‘The most beautiful and thought-provoking book I’ve read this year’ Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Observer

‘Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris have made a thing of astonishing beauty’ Alex Preston, Observer

‘My top book of the year’ Susan Hill, Spectator

‘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

Reviews

24 Nov 2023

Fascinating, full of life and adventure and filled with the sense of magic!

20 Aug 2023

Stunning illustrations and great to show acoustic poems at a higher level

07 Aug 2023

I liked this book. I liked the pictures in this book.

06 Nov 2022

The most beautiful illustrations and wonderful poems. If any criticism, it's a little bit overly erudite in places, which makes it less accessible to the average primary school child.
Still an absolute must have in any school library!

04 Sep 2022

Great vocabulary and rhyme amazing

30 Aug 2022

I wrote a poem at school in a.project in lockdown and it was on display at the Eden Project. This book is one of my mummy's favourites. I really like it as well.

23 Aug 2022

It made you feel peaceful and calm when I read it. I would recommend it to people to have trouble calming down or who can’t sleep at night.

07 Aug 2022

Lovely illustrations and beautiful poems

06 Aug 2022

I liked the book because of the art in it. I like how the lost words are hidden but are in plain sight, if you don’t know to look for them, you might not see them. I like that the acrostic poems are spells to remember and use the words. Did you know that the lost words are some of the words that were deleted from the Oxford Junior Dictionary? I would recommend this book to anyone who likes art and nature- that's what I personally think but you may have a different opinion.

27 Jul 2022

I thought that the pictures were very realistic and the words to me sounded like a spell. My favourite page was the wren.

04 Jul 2022

Wow. Beautifully illustrated and beautifully written, with humorous touches. I love the idea that the poems (acrostics!) are spells to conjure back the words that children have lost in becoming disconnected from the natural world. Would inspire children to create their own poetry and illustrations.

06 Sep 2021

I liked the way it had rhymes and artistic pictures.

19 Aug 2021

I thought the book was written differently, with rhymes and difficult words. I felt the description of the Raven was scary. I would recommend this book because it described nature.

10 Aug 2021

What a lovely book, so beautiful. I think anyone would love to own this.

01 Aug 2021

A Beautiful tribute to nature through the combination of stunning art and words that encapsulates the essence of the wildlife that surrounds us. A book of pure escapism in which you can forget the daily grind and get lost in the awe and wonder of nature reigniting that child-like unspoilt appreciation of the natural world.

22 Jul 2021

What a stunning book!
Just imagine a world where words (relating to nature) disappeared from children's vocabulary. This book provides beautifully written 'spells' to be read aloud in order to revive the lost words.
Beautifully illustrated and imaginatively written. Love it!

12 Jul 2021

I really enjoyed The lost words.
My favourite animal was the Goldfinch because it has really beautiful illustrations.
I would definitely recommend it to someone else.

11 Jul 2021

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Amazing book. Beautiful observation of nature through words and illustrations

16 Jan 2021

A wonderful book full of natural beauty

When reading this I always put my hand on the pages because you can feel the feathers of the owl, the smooth otter, the musty fox.
The poems are entrancing, they perfectly capture the wonders of nature.
Whoever you are I recommend this book.
Are a person who loves nature? Then like me there is a good chance of you falling in love with this book!

17 Dec 2020

BG

This is a wonderful book to read without having to read it all. It has amazing and detailed illustrations.

21 Sep 2020

Beautifully illustrated, heart warming poetry on words that no one would like to see lost out of our language and literature...

15 Aug 2020

From the front cover to the page page a super poetry book to inspire all ages.
The level of language is outstanding with fantastic illustration.
As a Forest School teacher we used it as a cross curriculum
With English to then write our own poems.
I would recommend it to others.

07 Aug 2020

I love the Willow poem

12 Oct 2019

This book is a book with acrostic poems in it. This isn’t really a book I would read but overall it was a great book. I would recommend this book too people at the age of 9+ and also fir people who love magic and poems.

21 Aug 2019

Absolutely stunning and beautiful illustrations and informative. Wonderful

08 Jul 2018

This massive poetry book is a work of art. Each poem is an acrostic of the animal and the words are a joy to read over and over. They beg to be read aloud and shared. If that isn't enough, each poem is accompanied by the most wonderful illustrations that really make you want to head out to the woods and have a go yourself. This is a book that will be treasured for years to come and would be a great addition to any class book corner.

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