Book Review: The Lost Words

What a gorgeous and gigantic, lovely and lyrical children's book! I never expected the book to be 11x15 inches tall. When the librarian handed The Lost Words to me through my truck window (for curbside pickup - am I the only one still using this brilliant pandemic provision?), I was overwhelmed. Delightful poetry and watercolor illustrations fill each page. But the story behind the book is as intriguing as the story within the book.

Apparently, at the release of the new Oxford Junior Dictionary, someone noticed a series of nature words left out because of disuse by children. Are children seriously not talking about otters and herons, acorns and dandelions? What a pity! The forty "lost words" give way to more technological terms, like "blog" and "bullet-point," "cut-and-paste," and "voice-mail." It makes one ask, is this "a powerful sign of the growing gulf between childhood and the natural world"?

Each poem is in acrostic form. Some use rhyme; some dance across the page with alliteration. My favorite ones? "Dandelion," "Heather," "Newt," "Otter," and "Willow." Macfarlane uses words that sound like the image created. So, the otter poem splashes and jaunts just like the otter does and the willow poem weaves and waves just like the willow. Beautiful!

Teachers will appreciate a resource at www.johnmuirtrust.org/initiatives/the-lost-words