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Shop nowThe Lost Words
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Learn morePenguin presents the audiobook edition of The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, read by Edith Bowman, Guy Garvey, Cerys Matthews and Benjamin Zephaniah.
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE BEAUTIFUL BOOK AWARD
BRITISH BOOK AWARDS CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018
The book that has taken root in schools across Britain, inspired creative thinkers, young and old, and restored the vanishing poetry of nature.
All over the country, there are words disappearing from children's lives. These are the words of the natural world; Dandelion, Otter, Bramble and Acorn, all gone. A wild landscape of imagination and play is rapidly fading from our children's minds.
The Lost Words stands against the disappearance of wild childhood. It is a joyful celebration - in art and word - of nearby nature and its wonders. With acrostic spell-poems by award-winning writer Robert Macfarlane and illustrations by Jackie Morris, this enchanting book evokes the irreplaceable magic of language and nature for all ages.
Across a rich and vivid natural soundscape, Edith Bowman, Guy Garvey, Cerys Matthews and Benjamin Zephaniah, iconic voices of modern Britain, bring the magic of nature and language to listeners. Through captivating readings, wonderful natural recordings and more, the audio edition of The Lost Words is a stunning celebration of the nature and the power of language.
Includes listening notes by Chris Watson, wildlife and natural phenomena recordist, as a downloadable PDF.
*** Discover The Lost Spells, the magical new book from the creators of a literary phenomenon. Available to pre-order now. ***
Praise for The Lost Words:
'The most beautiful and thought-provoking book I've read this year' Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Observer
'Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris have made a thing of astonishing beauty' Alex Preston, Observer
'My top book of the year' Susan Hill, Spectator
'Gorgeous to look at and to read. Give it to a child to bring back the magic of language - and its scope' Jeanette Winterson, Guardian
Robert Macfarlane is the bestselling author of Mountains of the Mind, The Wild Places, The Old Ways, Landmarks, and Underland, and co-creator of The Lost Words and The Lost Spells. Mountains of the Mind won the Guardian First Book Award and the Somerset Maugham Award and The Wild Places won the Boardman-Tasker Award. Both books have been adapted for television by the BBC. The Lost Words won the Books Are My Bag Beautiful Book Award and the Hay Festival Book of the Year. Robert Macfarlane is a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and writes on environmentalism, literature and travel for publications including the Guardian, the Sunday Times and The New York Times. He is now working on his third book with long-time collaborator, Jackie Morris: The Book of Birds.
Jackie Morris is the bestselling and award-winning co-creator of The Lost Words and The Lost Spells, two books which have captured the hearts of hundreds of thousands of readers of all ages. She also illustrated and introduced a new edition of Barbara Newhall Follett's lost classic of wild literature, The House Without Windows. As an author, Jackie Morris has produced over forty beloved children's books; as an artist she has also worked with the New Statesman, Independent and Guardian, among others. She won the Kate Greenaway Medal and the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year for The Lost Words in 2018. Jackie lives in a cottage on the cliffs of Pembrokeshire, where she is now working on her forthcoming third book with long-time collaborator, Robert Macfarlane: The Book of Birds.
Robert Macfarlane (Author)
Robert Macfarlane is the bestselling author of Mountains of the Mind, The Wild Places, The Old Ways, Landmarks, and Underland, and co-creator of The Lost Words and The Lost Spells. Mountains of the Mind won the Guardian First Book Award and the Somerset Maugham Award and The Wild Places won the Boardman-Tasker Award. Both books have been adapted for television by the BBC. The Lost Words won the Books Are My Bag Beautiful Book Award and the Hay Festival Book of the Year. Robert Macfarlane is a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and writes on environmentalism, literature and travel for publications including the Guardian, the Sunday Times and The New York Times. He is now working on his third book with long-time collaborator, Jackie Morris: The Book of Birds.
Jackie Morris (Author)
Jackie Morris is the bestselling and award-winning co-creator of The Lost Words and The Lost Spells, two books which have captured the hearts of hundreds of thousands of readers of all ages. She also illustrated and introduced a new edition of Barbara Newhall Follett's lost classic of wild literature, The House Without Windows. As an author, Jackie Morris has produced over forty beloved children's books; as an artist she has also worked with the New Statesman, Independent and Guardian, among others. She won the Kate Greenaway Medal and the British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year for The Lost Words in 2018. Jackie lives in a cottage on the cliffs of Pembrokeshire, where she is now working on her forthcoming third book with long-time collaborator, Robert Macfarlane: The Book of Birds.
Benjamin Zephaniah (Reader)
Benjamin Zephaniah was born in Birmingham and then spent some of his early years in Jamaica. He came to London when he was 22 and his first book of poetry for adults was published soon after. He appears regularly on radio and TV including a Desert Island Discs appearance, literary festivals, and has also taken part in plays and films. He is most well-known for his performance poetry with a political edge for both children and adults and gritty teenage fiction. His collections Talking Turkey, Wicked World and Funky Chickens broke new ground in children's poetry. He is the only Rastafarian poet to be short-listed for the Chairs of Poetry for both Oxford and Cambridge University and has been listed in The Times' list of 50 greatest postwar writers. Benjamin now lives in East London.
Cerys Matthews (Reader)
Song-loving cook or food-loving musician? Either way, Cerys Matthews has been experimenting with music and food ever since she can remember. From foraging and chewing on knotweed to cooking flapjacks and nettle soup as a young child, her interest in this planet's edibles has never waned. A life of touring guaranteed further culinary exploration: thousand-hole pancakes, amlou, roasted artichokes, vermouth with anchovy-filled green olives, death by chocolate, za'atar sprinkled on fresh tomatoes, hot baked soda bread, pineapple with chilli, crispy sage leaves and vegan haggis are just a few of the recipes Cerys shares in this book.
Her festival,The Good Life Experience, celebrates outdoor cooking. Bill Granger, River Cottage's Gill Meller, Signe Johansen, Thomasina Miers , Anna Jones and Petershams Nursery's Damian Clisby are just some of the chefs invited each year to cook on flames and charcoal.
Cerys is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller Hook Line and Singer and children's books Tales from the Deep and Gelert. She is vice-president for both Shelter and the Hay Festival, and recipient of a St David Award for Culture and an MBE.
Cerys cooks daily and lives in West London.
Song-loving cook or food-loving musician? Either way, Cerys Matthews has been experimenting with music and food ever since she can remember. From foraging and chewing on knotweed to cooking flapjacks and nettle soup as a young child, her interest in this planet's edibles has never waned. A life of touring guaranteed further culinary exploration: thousand-hole pancakes, amlou, roasted artichokes, vermouth with anchovy-filled green olives, death by chocolate, za'atar sprinkled on fresh tomatoes, hot baked soda bread, pineapple with chilli, crispy sage leaves and vegan haggis are just a few of the recipes Cerys shares in this book.
Her festival,The Good Life Experience, celebrates outdoor cooking. Bill Granger, River Cottage's Gill Meller, Signe Johansen, Thomasina Miers , Anna Jones and Petershams Nursery's Damian Clisby are just some of the chefs invited each year to cook on flames and charcoal.
Cerys is the author of the Sunday Times bestseller Hook Line and Singer and children's books Tales from the Deep and Gelert. She is vice-president for both Shelter and the Hay Festival, and recipient of a St David Award for Culture and an MBE.
Cerys cooks daily and lives in West London.