The Lost Words Illustrated


Sometimes I stumble across a book that fills me with delight. The Lost Words, with quirky poems by Robert Macfarlane and illustrations by Jackie Morris, is one of them.

Robert Macfarlane was concerned that words were disappearing from the vocabulary of children. Words about nature – acorn, bluebell, kingfisher, otter, raven . . . . And so he wrote what he describes as spells for conjuring back these lost words.

One of my favorite spells is for the magpie:

"Magpie Manifesto: 
Argue Every Toss! 
Gossip, Bicker, Yak and Snicker All Day Long! 
Pick a Fight in an Empty Room! 
Interrupt, Interject, Intercept, Intervene! 
Every Magpie for Every Magpie against 
     Every Other Walking Flying Swimming 
     Creeping Creature on the Earth! * 
     *Except eagles, for they are too scary…"

And the illustrations – well, they are magical! Jackie Morris has such a sure touch and an obvious love of birds and plants and other creatures. You need to look carefully at each illustration if you want to spot the mouse gnawing on a blackberry or the frog half-hidden beneath a fern.


The Lost Words is available from the Saskatoon Public Library and can be ordered from McNally Robinson Booksellers.

Illustrations are courtesy of the House of Anansi website.

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