My book review of 'The Lost Spells' by Robert Macfarlane and and Jackie Morris

by Robert Macfarlane and and Jackie Morris
Recommended age: 6+
The Lost Spells
by Robert Macfarlane and and Jackie Morris

This is a book for all ages. It's a pleasure to behold. A small format hardback with beautiful endpapers, astonishing illustrations, magical and musical verse and evocations, and a gold ribbon to mark your page! It's a wonder!

'The Lost Spells' may be a companion volume to the formidable bestseller that was 'The Lost Words', but it couldn't look or feel more different. It's a book to be held in the hand, or slipped into a pocket, and taken everywhere.

There are still the stunning illustrations by Jackie Morris and the delightful lines and poems from Robert Macfarlane, but this book urges us to engage more fully with our environment.

Its message is the importance of naming and knowing the living world, and it reminds us of what we lose when nature and the language of nature slips from our lives.

There are new spells here, which we are invited to read aloud, speak from memory or sing. Some are summoning spells to remind us of what we can no longer see. Others are charms, written to protect what is threatened, and others are exultations of wonder and joy, a delight in nature's glory.

This is a book to cherish, to hold fast and to share widely. It's wonderful!

Date of this review: September 2020
Book publication date: 1st October 2020