April is Earth Month and National Poetry Month. Two things that go together as well as peanut butter and chocolate, tacos on Tuesday, rain and rainbows, worms and soil, flowers and sunshine . . . you get my drift.
Today's Perfect Picture Book doesn't fit squarely in the picture book category of books. It's 128 pages and the acrostic poems require time and thought to allow their words and meaning to sink in and take hold of your heart and mind. Yet, it is filled with beautiful illustrations and is a non-fiction poetry picture book.
For me, it conjures up the Wild Flowers of America book that sat on our book shelf as I was growing up (see image at the end of this post). I would browse the pages on rainy days, make drawings of the flowers with my crayons and paper, and even occasionally use it as the reference tool it was designed to be. So while neither are traditional picture books, they are books that take you into nature and without being pushed or prodded, your own imagination is sparked.
Title: Lost Words: A Spell Book
Author: Robert MacFarlane
Illustrator: Jackie Morris
Publishing Information: 2017 in the UK by Penguin Books Ltd. and 2018 in Canada and US by House of Anasasi Press Inc.
Ages: 0 - 100
Description from Amazon: In 2007, when a new edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary ― widely used in schools around the world ― was published, a sharp-eyed reader soon noticed that around forty common words concerning nature had been dropped. Apparently they were no longer being used enough by children to merit their place in the dictionary. The list of these “lost words” included acorn, adder, bluebell, dandelion, fern, heron, kingfisher, newt, otter, and willow. Among the words taking their place were attachment, blog, broadband, bullet-point, cut-and-paste, and voice-mail. The news of these substitutions ― the outdoor and natural being displaced by the indoor and virtual ― became seen by many as a powerful sign of the growing gulf between childhood and the natural world.
Ten years later, Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris set out to make a “spell book” that will conjure back twenty of these lost words, and the beings they name, from acorn to wren. By the magic of word and paint, they sought to summon these words again into the voices, stories, and dreams of children and adults alike, and to celebrate the wonder and importance of everyday nature. The Lost Words is that book ― a work that has already cast its extraordinary spell on hundreds of thousands of people and begun a grass-roots movement to re-wild childhood across Britain, Europe, and North America.
Opening Lines: Once upon a time, words began to vanish from the language of children. They disappeared so quietly at first almost no one noticed -- fading away like water on the stone.
Why I love this book: I first read about this book in a post from the Children in Nature Network. Sadly, that post slipped my mind until a friend shared an article about the book with me a couple months ago. I immediately ordered it. Each time I open the pages, I turn them with awe and reverence. The title on the cover is gold embossed and the cover illustrations are a small sample of the beauty that is held within the pages.
Each lost word is given three double page spreads. The opening spread for the word is a letter jumble with the letters of the word in a unique color. The second spread includes an acrostic poem on the left and a watercolor illustration of the word on the right. The final spread is a scene depicting the word in its surrounding world.
A book worthy of book cases everywhere. Each word can become an adventure to the outdoors.
The poems are deep and full of mystery and love.
It is a book you can look at and read over and over again.
Activities and Resources:
Activities and and Explorer's Guide from the John Muir Trust
Writing Acrostic Poems
More about Acrostic Poems and using the word at the beginning, middle and end of each line.
Make a flower chain crown
Nature Journaling for Kids
Wet on wet Watercolor Painting
Bird Identification
The book from our family book shelf.
My Acrostic poem from this mornings visit of nine turkeys:
Tom turkey struts his stuff
Under the bird feeders.
Rugged feathers raised, puffed, and shimmering in the morning light.
Kingly posture ignored by the ladies.
Every turkey more interested in breakfast,
Yet Tom persists hopefully.
Finally, if you want to find more cool picture books check out Susanna Hill's Blog where you can look for reviews by book, title, and by themes.
The cover alone makes me want to read this gem. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt is a beautiful book. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I am working on creating a Pop-up nature program based on some of the words in the book.
DeleteSounds a bit haunting, the loss of words, and definitely something I want to read! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThere is something haunting about it, but this book is hopeful and strives to bring the words and the plants and animals back into the lexicon of children and adults.
DeleteI've read this. It is gorgeous! And now you've reminded me that I should read it again. Thanks for putting the bug in my ear.
ReplyDeleteA great thing about this book is that you can go back to it over and over again.
DeleteOh, and I love your acrostic poem. Too funny! Poor Tom, LOL.
ReplyDeleteThank you. It was pretty funny to watch him and be ignored. It showed the power of the female. It dawned on me that taking time to write my own would show that it is doable and can go in any direction.
DeleteThis book was featured in ReFoReMo and I fell in love with it then. It is just as beautiful, haunting, and touching as you say. I may have to add it to my personal library.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that is where I first read about it, but didnt get my hands on it at the time. I love it and am thrilled to have it in my collection.
DeleteWhat a fascinating book! It didn't even occur to me that words disappear from our language ... but of course they do!
ReplyDeleteHappily, I still hear kids using the words otter, dandelion, acorn and fern here on the west coast.
Love your acrostic turkey poem!
With online dictionaries, I think we are less likely to lose the words, but when nature words are removed because they are not being used or researched goes with children spending less time in nature. I love see the outdoor education programs growing. There are some grassroots efforts in the Midwest to get kids learning outside, but it is a challenge for teachers who have been given one set of expectations that change so often they are always relearning how and what to teach, and then being asked to figure out how to incorporate that outside is overwhelming. Books like this, caring people who are willing to create programs within the school curriculum structure, help make a difference in getting kids outdoors.
DeleteThank you for the poem compliment. I felt like I should show that it can be done. Plus I added a photo of Tom flirting with a hen.
How wonderful to see a book by Robert MacFarlane. I have two of his books and love them dearly. It's wonderful that he holds onto and shares the sweet words that are being left out of today's dictionary. Children shouldn't grow up without such lovely words as acorn, fern, and bluebell.
ReplyDeleteIt is a lovely book, and brings those words alive once again.
DeleteWhat an amazing story -- I didn't know that words were being "lost" in the dictionary. Cheers to the authors for writing this books. And, I'm glad a movement is underway to "re-wild childhood" words. Magnificent choice today!
ReplyDeleteI think that as we re-wild our children, we also bring new life to all the wild words. A wonderful thing for us all.
ReplyDelete