The Lost Words Review

Chosen by Cressida Cowell, Guest Editor May 2020 | Winner for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal 2019 | One of Our Books of the Year 2017

A book to make you think and feel, this is an important, beautiful, spellbinding treasure. Words from nature are disappearing, being removed, left to one side to be forgotten. Some words are in real danger of being lost forever, this book reveals those words, sings them, shows them, reminds us how to love them. Spell-weavers Robert MacFarlane and Jackie Morris have created a bewitching ode to nature, reminding us of the danger of absence, highlighting beauty, whispering to our soul. It feels as though the words, the poems, and vividly beautiful pictures are as one, the essence of the word, of the being, escapes the page to wrap itself around you. ‘The Lost Words’ is suitable for all ages, and should find a special place in all homes, all libraries, all schools, all hearts. Do read the spell-poems out loud, listen, look, feel, touch, allow your awareness to open and receive these gifts. I found myself entranced, I fell completely under the spell of ‘The Lost Words’, I simply can’t recommend it highly enough.

Our Guest Editor, Cressida Cowell said; "We need our children to have a connection with the natural world, and the language to describe it is crucial. Robert and Jackie’s book is not only a truly beautiful book, it’s an important one too."

Liz Robinson