The Lost Spells

Review Elegant … There is enough magic here to summon wild things even for those who are snug indoors. ― Wall Street JournalThis unusually beautiful book brings to readers the magic and wonder of nature … Breathtakingly magical. ― Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEWSMacfarlane’s lyrics … ring with consonance (“Thrift thrives where most life fails, falls,/ is cast adrift”) and wordplay (“Woodpecker, tree-wrecker”) … Morris’s fluid artwork renders the elegant tilt of a fox’s snout, birds’ calligraphic flight patterns, and the eyelike whorls of silver birch bark … One to treasure. ― Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEWMacfarlane and Morris bring us the mystery and wisdom of wild things as complementary and consolatory to our tame incompleteness … These painted verses sing and shimmer with a magical exuberance that renders the wild world not parallel, not foreign, but proximate, beckoning, native to our own souls … A charm against the curse of civilization, of exploitation, of apathy. ― Maria Popova, Brain PickingsThrough deeply humane poems paired with warm illustrations, MacFarlane and Morris invited readers into the space where the enchanting natural world meets the expansive imagination . . . Crafted with the same tenderness as its sibling. ― Shelf AwarenessThe Lost Spells employs Robert Macfarlane’s rapturous language and Jackie Morris’s bewitching illustrations to return language and art to their ancient occupations: building bridges of understanding between human and non-human worlds. More than a mere book, it’s a brave act of shamanism that touches and transforms the reader’s heart, healing and encouraging at a time when the world feels most desperately in need of restoration. -- Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity Product Description Since its publication in 2017, The Lost Words has enchanted readers with its poetry and illustrations of the natural world. Now, The Lost Spells, a book kindred in spirit and tone, continues to re-wild the lives of children and adults.The Lost Spells evokes the wonder of everyday nature, conjuring up red foxes, birch trees, jackdaws, and more in poems and illustrations that flow between the pages and into readers’ minds. Robert Macfarlane’s spell-poems and Jackie Morris’s watercolour illustrations are musical and magical: these are summoning spells, words of recollection, charms of protection. To read The Lost Spells is to see anew the natural world within our grasp and to be reminded of what happens when we allow it to slip away. From School Library Journal Gr 6 Up-A collaborative work of compelling words and stunning images that illuminate the wonder of nature. "Spells" is an accurate depiction of this title, as the poetry and soft colors of the illustrations weave magic over readers and transport them into the woods. From moths emerging from the darkness to owls swooping upon prey, the action of flight is a repeated theme and emphasizes how freedom can be found through language and art. Macfarlane and Morris provide a truly enchanting meeting of kindred spirits. Readers are challenged to seek out adventure in nature and find a way to share it with others. VERDICT This is poetry for those who claim not to like poetry. Highly recommended for any library, and as a gift for all lovers of language and art.-Elizabeth Speer, Weatherford Coll., TXα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Review PRAISE FOR ROBERT MACFARLANE, JACKIE MORRIS, AND THE LOST SPELLSInternational Bestseller“Elegant … There is enough magic here to summon wild things even for those who are snug indoors.” — Wall Street Journal“This unusually beautiful book brings to readers the magic and wonder of nature … Breathtakingly magical.” — Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEWS“Macfarlane’s lyrics … ring with consonance (“Thrift thrives where most life fails, falls,/ is cast adri