A while ago I read Landmarks by Robert Macfarlane and was struck by a passage about the disappearance of certain words from the Oxford Junior Dictionary for children. Many of the words he cited as being dropped were related to the natural world, their empty spaces being filled by words that relate to technology. It makes sense that dictionaries need to reflect practical and current usage but still, this was depressing news to me.
Illustration by Jackie Morris, taken from The Lost Words
And yet. A few weeks ago I read an article about a picture book he recently published called The Lost Words. The gorgeous illustrations are by Jackie Morris. It's beautiful, it's captivating, it's original. Please read it, share it, gift it, because it would seem that yes, words do get lost. They get lost because they stop being used. But as this spellbinding book proves, words get lost but they may also be recovered, found and brought back to life.
A portion of the books proceeds are being donated to Action for Conservation, for more information visit their website.
Badger or Bulbasaur? Have children lost touch with nature? by Robert Macfarlane
