The Lost Words

Stunning book to add to your collection. Sizeable book with captivating artwork. Very pleased to add to our collection.

My 6 year old daughter has a keen interest in poetry and a love of nature. At a friend's recommendation I purchased this for her as a Christmas gift. It has given us hours of delight; the images are beautiful and detailed and teach lots of thing without the need to explicitly say them. She enjoys finding the "lost word" on each title page and asks questions about words she hears and doesn't know (our new favorite word is "unhirsute"). We've been using this book to learn a few poems for school and they're even simple enough for my 4 year old to recite (Newt! Oh, Newt! You are toooo cute!). The variety of types of poetry in this book was a surprise and I have enjoyed learning the flow of each poem, how best to recite it. An all around truly delightful experience. 10/10 would recommend

I've seen this book recommended for a long time- I can't believe I waited so long to check it out! I got it through our library and loved it so much I bought it before I even had to return the library book! My 5.5 and 8 yr olds have favorite poems and have naturally memorized a few snippets of several poems. Every time we share one or two with a friend's, the kids keep requesting specific poems until we've shared half the book! I LOVE this book. A note on the end page also directs you to a website with teaching resources on poetry for older kids. I'm so happy to have brought this beautiful language into our home.

...because words are inadequate to describe the magic and profound beauty of this work of literary and visual art. The Lost Words refer to words that were misguidedly taken out of a standard children's dictionary. These Lost Words refer to living beings such as dandelions, ferns, and otters, which were removed to make way for tech related words. This book provides magnificent illustrations and definitions for each lost word. But to call the writing a definition is to fall so far short of what the actual text is. I experience the writing as actually invoking the spirit of the entity being described, and my soul is touched when I read this book.

I ordered this just for me, and I'm even more excited about it now I have it. Its larger and heavier than I thought, with beautifully done art. The poems manage to be clever, entertaining, thoughtful and thought-provoking. Not a common combination. I absolutely love the focus on words. Beautiful use of the sounds and the sights of words. Definitely accomplishes its goal of making you fall in love with lost words! And not just for children!

I read about this book in The New York Times. It was written to address the sad trend that children no longer know the names of natural plants and animals that live in the world around them. I have noticed this myself. For example, my students refer to all flowers as roses. The don't distinguish between an actual rose and a daisy or a tulip or a daffodil. This book is BEAUTIFUL. The watercolor illustrations are laced with gold and cunningly wrought. It is sort of an alphabet book. Each entry has a nature word, such as "acorn", followed by an acrostic poem and then a lovely painting. In between are pages of context illustrations with lost letters spread about. I love this book! (Some notes: It is larger and heavier than I expected, approximately 11" by 15". It is more of a coffee table book than a children's bedtime story. Not all letters of the alphabet are illustrated. I felt sorry for some of them. The authors are from the UK and the animals chosen reflect that to a small degree.)

The book itself is quite lovely and well-conceived. At the introduction to each "lost" word are letters, seemingly randomly strewn across two pages, but when you look carefully, you notice that the word in question is printed in different colored letters from the others. Nice touch. The illustrations are just beautiful. I did not, unfortunately, read the size description of the book and was surprised to find it was quite large. Would have preferred a smaller version that is easily shelved, but the quality of the illustrations makes up for it. To see them so vividly in the large format is a pleasure. Can't wait to. share it with my grandchildren. Highly recommend this lovely, lovely book about both the pleasure and tragic loss of words as our world changes. Happily, most of the words included in the book are still with us, though it's easy to see how they can be lost to future generations of children as the world and its fragile climate undergo irreversible change. This is a book to savor again and again.

Gorgeous book!! 😍 You can get lost in the poems and the beautiful artwork! However it's not convenient to curl up and read with. You really can't visualize 11x14 inches until your propping it up on one hip. It's enormous size makes it difficult to place on a bookshelf. I'm very thankful they reduced the size for their next book and hope they will do more books in the furniture......small ones that is. Lol!!

This book is even better than the Amazon website preview shows. It's larger than I expected, with lovely, full page watercolor illustrations. The verse brilliantly evokes the essence of nature. The rhythm and choice of words is delightful. It's "poetry", but not "stuffy". Wish I had a child with which to share this. I'm definitely enjoying it. This is a feel-good book! The shipment was well packaged and arrived 2 weeks earlier than promised.

Finally an illustration book with an appropriate size to enjoy all the ilustrations... very well accompanied by the lyrics (in the sense of a song) by Robert McFarlane. Pure joy!

Absolutely gorgeous. I love the illustrations and the compact nature of the book- perfect for next to the bed and winding down

This book was a response to some words, from the world of nature, being dropped from the children's dictionary, to make room for words about technology. So, children may never learn these words - oak, dandelion, adder etc - and so, their world could be shaped by what has been forgotten. Diminished, made poorer. This book is a response to this. The artist & writer have collaborated to show us the world of magic that these words encompass. Both the words & illustrations are of an unusually high level, it is truly beautiful, & can enchant any child or adult. It is a call to speak these words aloud, to "re-mind" ourselves of what we give our attention to, & make the choice to remember what could have been sneakily taken away from our consciousness. I have shown my copy to a number of friends, who have all rushed out to get their own, its that inspiring ! What I also find inspiring is that two thirds of all primary schools have been given a copy, so the great remembering is beginning. A great Christmas present for any artist or wordsmith!

It is wonderful! Ideal present for anyone - especially grand children.