The Lost Spells

This precious book is probably the most beautiful surprise I’ve had in my life. I bought it because I saw a video of the author and connected to him immediately, making me want to give back to him in some way. So I bought his book, having no idea what was to come in the mail. The writing is brilliant and so much fun. Then … Jackie’s artwork! Mmmm. Thank you both! I could feel the emotions coming off the pages at every turn. Both words and art were incredible. Absolutely beautiful. I feel the need to buy one for everyone who is in my real inner circle, those who will appreciate it as much as I do.

Another beautiful and poetic book by MacFarlane. Wonderful to read aloud, even for a geezer like me. One of the books I most enjoy is to the kiddos, but I also read it and speak aloud when I need a bit of Zen in my day. I’m 64!

This is an element in a whole ecosystem. I love them all, both the idea and the execution. The idea behind the books and music is the loss, to the upcoming generations of children, of important words for creatures and plants made rare (some of them, anyhow) by development and ecosystem destruction, and by the technological splitting of kids from the natural world. But that's just the backstory. Robert Macfarlane is a superb UK nature writer, and the illustrator is amazing. This little book of poems is compact and suitable for an adult or for an older, reading child to enjoy on their own or for a younger child to have read to them. It's witty and clever, but gently and subtly. Each is about a single creature or plant. The same idea, but different poems is available in a larger format book, and there are companion musical albums (Spell Songs and Spell Songs II) featuring singer-songwriter Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis, and many others. Check out The Lost Words Blessing, a popular track on my streaming service, for an impression of the sensibilities of this book, though not by the same writer.

Have you ever danced a folk waltz? With someone who knows how? Floating, flying, fleeting—fantastic. Opening The Lost Spells is like stepping into a room of flannel-clad strangers who dance like gods. It is a book of what was once called poetry: words that conjure meaning through our ears’ encounter with their sounds. These new “spells to be spoken aloud,” urge us to wonder at real, half-forgotten things, like egrets and oaks, swifts and silver birches, and the sound of spoken rhymes. They invite us to stray into a fading world that is steeped in the spirituality of physical experience. Naturalist-writer Robert Macfarlane and artist Jackie Morris crafted their 2017 The Lost Words in response to the removal of such terms as “acorn,” “wren,” and “dandelion” from a popular juvenile dictionary. The astonishingly beautiful, oversized volume weaves watercolor with verse to protest our blindness to the wild things around us. A diminutive companion to The Lost Words, The Lost Spells continues to plumb what Macfarlane calls “loss—of language, species, loved places—[which] is the tune of the times.” Knowing and naming nature demands physical presence. Yet, identifying the exquisite order of a moth wing or beech leaf is not merely sensorial, but spiritual. It reveals something of ourselves: our own vitality, fragility, and design. When nature is displaced, whether from our surroundings or our lexicon, we lose a thread of connection with our own being. As simulated experiences increasingly supplant physical ones, we find ourselves aliens to our own metaphysics. Like spoken poetry and social dance, nature study has become an activity of small children and eccentric subcultures. Can books like The Lost Spells renew our ability to marvel at our landscapes and ourselves? As the virus accelerates our virtual interactions, our need for physical contact and spiritual solace grows more urgent. Macfarlane’s and Morris’ work could not be more timely. My only fear is that the book is too beautiful. I responded with reflexive horror when my five-year-old pulled it from its package by one cover. To see its satiny dust jacket torn or its silken ribbon frayed would pain any aesthetic sensibility. However, his enthusiasm gives hope that The Lost Spells will grow lustrous with wear as it enchants us into abandoning our avatars for authentic marvel and mystery.

Last year, I stumbled upon The Lost Words by this same author and marvelous illustrator Jackie Morris. The Lost Words was a folio-sized book in breathtaking color and design. It was marvelous to me as someone retired, but I also imagined it would be perfect for children. So, when I saw that he had done something similar for The Lost Spells, I ordered it. At first, I was dismayed because it wasn't a large folio-sized book, but a small pocket-sized version. Four months later, I picked it up and was again mesmerized by the art work and the "spells,' the poetry Macfarlane wrote for each creature and their set of illustrations. The pocket-sized version was to encourage people to take it out into the natural world and find the moths, flowers, critters, and trees that made their way into the book. The poems are sometimes cheeky and other times full of wonder. I am envious of the British for having a writer who has done this for his home. I wish we had someone who would do the same for the USA, except there are very distinct landscapes in the USA with distinctly different biomes. It makes me want to visit Britain again just to go out in the countryside and find these things.

I bought and enjoyed this book, not because I am interested in spells, but rather, the beautiful watercolors of birds and the rhyming poetry. The several pages each devoted to jackdaws, woodpeckers, swifts and swallows are just a few examples in this little work of art. A small-size book to be picked up and enjoyed many times. The endpapers of the many colorful moths invite you to start turning the pages. A barn owl perched on a big key is featured on the first page. The last two pages picture the owl carrying it away. The glossary at the end of the book pictures each denizen of nature with its common name and scientific name. It is the key to find each bird, moth, animal, or tree to find it somewhere in the unnumbered pages. A truly wonderful book.

I’m in love with the work of the illustrator. What is not as impressive is the writing. I think sometimes, people who write poetry think they can get away with not always making a lot of sense. That’s how I felt as I read this book. Not much sense.

This is a magical book, a piece of art for those who love poetry and nature. Just open this book on any page and be ready to get lost among Jackie's watercolor landscapes. Immersed in the magic of the pages, you can feel the flight of a swift and hear the sounds of the forest as an owl hears them, get lost in a silver birch grove and meet a red fox, frolic with a seal in the sea waves and learn the history of an ancient oak tree. “The Lost Spells” teaches us to listen, to watch, and to feel the nature; it reaches out to our hearts with a call to preserve our true treasure – the nature and the wildlife.

I gave a copy of this book and its larger companion Lost Words to my daughter. She described it as a symphony for the eyes and mind and said that the beauty of this book brought her to tears. If you or whomever you are buying this for loves birds/nature and poetry this is your book!

This book is a vibe. Very informative in a very delicate way. Enjoyed it thoroughly! A definite must buy.

Gorgeous book. The illustrations give you a cosy kind of feeling. The “spells” … little pieces off rhyming verses. But it is lovely and I think it is worth what I paid.

Un libro que se saborea desde las ilustraciones y cada encanto, un libro vivo.

Simply wonderful... poetic writings and beautiful illustrations. This book is a little precious jewel.