I have never encountered this book until recently and cannot believe it has escaped me until now! It is simply stunning! Let me introduce you to it!
With acrostic poems by Robert Macfarlane and beautiful watercolour artwork by Jackie Morris, The Lost Words takes a child (and many an adult) on a journey through the wonders of nature.
Published in October 2017, this beautiful book focuses on words such as bluebell, dandelion, otter, kingfisher, acorn, along with pages whre the letters are ‘lost’ and scattered around the page.
Each acrostic spell focusing on an aspect of nature is accompanied by watercolour artwork by Jackie Morris then the spell itself accompanied by gold leaf.
The book’s combination of image and word is partly what has acquired thousands of admirers and awards.
There have been many initiatives to get copies into as many schools as possible. The idea was initiated by Jane Beaton, a school bus driver who came up with a bright idea on Twitter to deliver the book into every school in Scotland. She raised an incredible £25000 to complete her mission!
The lasting legacy of The Lost Words.
The text from the book has been stitched into embroidered braille.
Locally, in Nottinghamshire with it’s Sherwood Forest heritage the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, Notts County ‘Football in the Community’ and Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature all worked together to raise £5,000 so that all Nottinghamshire primary and special schools had an opportunity for their children to experience what this wonderful book had to offer.
A proportion of the proceeds from each book is donated to Action For Conversation.
The Lost Words immersive experience.
In 2022 at Bolton Library, families joined in with a read along led by actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, to listen to music inspired by the sounds of nature. Giant swallows swooped through the library as families built a huge nest and played hide and seek with some of the characters from the book. Participants could dial up the spells on our old fashioned telephones! How cool does that sound!
“The Lost Words was a book made in a spirit of hope, but even in our wildest dreams Jackie and I couldn’t have imagined the response it has received. Above all, we’re overjoyed to see it take root in classrooms round the country, and overwhelmed by the generosity of the campaigns that are springing up to get copies into every primary school in Scotland, Wales and various counties of England. If it helps close the gap even slightly between childhood and nature in this country, all the effort will have been worth it.”
