‘The Lost Words’ by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris

Writer Robert Macfarlane and artist/painter Jackie Morris teamed up to create The Lost Words, an illustrated book that aims to remind children about words relating to the natural world before they disappear forever. From the book’s description:

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.

And in the lovely words of the artist herself:

When I was a child there were more sparrows, blackbirds, thrushes. This book is a song of protest in words and paint, a soul song, and aims to help us rewind our lives and be less at ease with the decrease in numbers of the wild world. Name it, own it, heart and soul.

Here are some pages from the book so you can see what it’s like:

This is exactly the sort of thing I want my son to have. He’ll absolutely love this book.

The Lost Words is available only in hardcover format for $24 on Amazon.