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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flavourful Saskatoon, August 21, 2017

Image
Prairie Harvest Café I was sad to learn that Prairie Harvest Café has closed its doors. It’s been one of my favorite Saskatoon restaurants since day one, and I really appreciated the fact that the chefs focused on cooking with local ingredients, many supplied by the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market. All the best of luck in your new adventures. We’ll miss you. Hug a Farmer This has been a tough summer for many farmers. Prairie Sun Orchard lost their entire cherry crop to insects. Drop by their stand at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market, tell them you care, and have an ice cream. My favorite is the chocolate cherry fudge, but Clare Pearson, the principal ice cream maker, says her new favorite is the salted caramel. Peppers If you’re like me, you assume that all small, skinny peppers are super hot and avoid them like the plague. But that’s a big mistake. Kaleidoscope Vegetable Gardens is offering two long, skinny peppers – one can be hot, but the other isn’t. Padron chile pepper
Read more

Flavourful Saskatoon, August 28, 2017

Image
The Next Great Food Business Public Tasting, Sept. 7 The Local Kitchen is hosting a public tasting with samples from each of the finalists in the Next Great Food Business competition. Finalists are: King’s Jerky, Kind Condiments , Smoke and Salt BBQ, Bannock Express , and Voodoo Van . Wine Tastings Guess the most expensive wine (Sept. 8), sample some Rhône wines (Sept. 22), or attend the 2017 Premier Showcase Wine Dinner (Sept. 28) sponsored by Saskatoon Co-op Wine Spirits Beer. Premier Showcase is also offering a Portugal with a Splash of California wine seminar (Sept. 29) and a Women & Whisky seminar (Sept. 30). Refresh and Renew I had a chat with Trent Loewen about his plans now that he has sold Earth Bound Bakery. He is heading east to visit chef friends in Ontario and then off to New Zealand to explore what's happening there. After 9 years with a single focus, it's time to explore new ideas. Interestingly enough, the bakery's new owner is a business
Read more

The Golden Towns of Beaujolais

Image
Heading north out of Lyon, you pass through a long tunnel and exit into a lush green countryside leaving the city far behind. You then turn and head up the hill onto winding roads between a patchwork of vineyards. Many of the vines are really old with short, thick, twisted trunks and a thin stem of green leaves and buds. These are the Gamay vines of Beaujolais, interspersed with a few fields of greener, leafier Chardonnay vines. South Beaujolais, just 45 minutes northwest of Lyon, encompasses 25 medieval villages of orangey-gold stone (limestone and iron) that is surprisingly vibrant (I had been expecting something lighter, similar to the Cotswolds in England). Some of the villages still have the remains of 14th century castles. Oingt is classed as one of the most beautiful villages of France and it really is lovely. You can take a walk around the town on the former ramparts and the church is austere and beautiful. I was on a half-day tour , which combined stopping to
Read more

The Future of the Saskatoon Farmers' Market - Let's Move Forward, Not Backward

Image
The City of Saskatoon has big, bold dreams for the future of the old electrical building (current home of the Saskatoon Farmers' Market Co-operative). That’s fantastic, but I believe their plans are fatally flawed. Here’s why. Party or Buy Food? The City wants more “animation” at the market site. First of all, I’m not sure what that means. Secondly, I go to the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market to buy locally grown food. I don’t go there to be entertained. If your primary goal is to bring lots of people to the site, turn it into a Tim Horton’s or a discount fashion outlet. If your goal is to support local food production and food security, then a farmers’ market is your best option. It’s true that Granville Island Public Market is animated 6 days a week. (In fact, it’s so busy there are traffic jams and locals have turned the site over to the tourists.) But Saskatoon isn’t Vancouver. We don’t have the population, the idyllic location, or easy access to tropical Asian fruits. Inste
Read more

Spelt and Millet: Ancient Grains for Today's Healthy Diet

Image
When I was growing up, whole wheat flour and rice were exotic options. Now we have a whole range of intriguing choices – buckwheat, spelt, millet, kamut – the list goes on and on. My problem is that I don’t know very much about some of these grains, so I arranged a phone call with Nicole Davis, the Owner/Manager of Daybreak Mill near Estevan. Daybreak Mill grows and processes approximately 18 different kinds of flour, whole and de-hulled grains, flakes, cereals, and legumes. They are 100% organic. “We want people to have access to healthy, wholesome food,” Nicole explains. Two of Daybreak’s products – spelt and millet – have been nourishing people around the world for over 9,000 years. Spelt Spelt was cultivated by ancient civilizations in Europe and the Middle East for thousands of years. It grows well in poor soil and doesn’t require fertilizer. It’s resistant to frost and the thick husk protects the grain from insects. However, spelt requires more processing than wheat as
Read more