Kate’s 2¢: “The Lost Words” by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris

 “The Lost Words” by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Throughout this book, the listener can hear flocks of birds with several isolated bird calls. The various narrators of the short poems talked over the cacophony of bird sounds.  I must admit, it was a unique presentation. Some of the poems had some fun sounds and words, somewhat like Dr. Suess.

Speaking the Anthropocene – with Robert Macfarlane

Robert Macfarlane is a British author known for his award-winning and bestselling books exploring themes of landscape, nature, and human relationships with place. His works often delve into the imaginative and cultural connections we have with the natural world, including the history of mountains, old paths, and even the earth beneath our feet. He is also a literary critic and essayist, contributing to publications like The Guardian and London Review of Books. 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert Macfarlane (born 15 August 1976) is a British writer and Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

He is best known for his books on landscape, nature, place, people and language, which include The Old Ways (2012), Landmarks (2015), The Lost Words (2017) and Underland (2019). In 2017 he received The E. M. Forster Award for Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is married to professor of modern Chinese history and literature Julia Lovell.

In 2022 and 2024, Macfarlane was named as an outside contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature.[1][2] The Prize in those years was won by Annie Ernaux and Han Kang respectively.

Early life and education[edit]

Macfarlane was born in Halam in Nottinghamshire, and attended Nottingham High School.[3] He was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and Magdalen College, Oxford. He began a PhD at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 2000, and in 2001 was elected a Fellow of the college.

Family[edit]

His father John Macfarlane is a respiratory physician who co-authored the CURB-65 score of pneumonia in 2003. His brother James is also a consultant physician in respiratory medicine. He is married to Julia Lovell, and has three children.[citation needed] His grandfather was the British Diplomat and mountaineer Edward Peck.[4]

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jackie Morris (born 1961) is a British writer and illustrator. She was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2016 and won it in 2019[1] for her illustration of The Lost Words, voted the most beautiful book of 2016 by UK booksellers.[2] She is a recipient of the Tir na n-Og Award for children’s book Seal Children.

Life[edit]

Morris was born in Birmingham in 1961. Her family moved to Evesham when she was four. As a child she was told that she couldn’t be an artist, but despite this she learned to paint. Morris went to High school at Prince Henry’s High School in Evesham and afterward the Bath Academy of Art.[3][4]

On leaving college she found work in editorial, illustrating magazines like Radio Times, New Statesman, New Society and Country Living. She worked for years illustrating books and in 2016, she was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal for Something About a Bear. The book includes her water colours of different types of bear.

She lives in a small house by the sea in Wales, painting and writing.

Career[edit]

The Lost Words is a book of “spells” by Robert Macfarlane with illustrations by Morris. The book has clues to words like acorn, blackberry and conker. The book was inspired by 21st-century editions of the Oxford Junior Dictionary in which some words like kingfisher associated with nature were omitted in order to include technical terms like attachment, broadband and chatroom.[5][6] In 2017, Laurence Rose organised a protest letter to the dictionary and it was signed by Margaret Atwood, Sara Maitland, Michael Morpurgo, Andrew Motion, Macfarlane, and Morris. Much debate ensued but the creative outcome was an idea for joint work by McFarlane and Morris.[5] This book was voted the most beautiful book by UK booksellers in 2016.[2]

An exhibition of The Lost Words was held at Compton Verney in 2017, featuring immersive floor to ceiling graphics of the poems and illustrations in the book.[7] The exhibition subsequently toured Britain, hosted by the Foundling Museum in London, Inverleith House in Edinburgh, Royal Albert Museum in Exeter,[8] and the North York Moors National Park’s art gallery in Danby.[9]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The lost words DB125140

Macfarlane, Robert; Morris, Jackie Reading time: 50 minutes.

Edith Bowman; Benjamin Zephaniah; Robert Macfarlane; Cerys Matthews; Guy Garvey

Poetry

“From bestselling Landmarks author Robert Macfarlane and acclaimed artist and author Jackie Morris, a beautiful illustrated book for readers young and old. 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. The rich landscape of wild imagination and wild play is rapidly fading from our children’s minds. The Lost Words stands against the disappearance of wild childhood. It is a joyful celebration of nature words and the natural world they invoke. With acrostic spell-poems by award-winning writer Robert Macfarlane and hand-painted illustration by Jackie Morris, this enchanting book captures the irreplaceable magic of language and nature for all ages.”– Provided by publisher. Unrated. Commercial audiobook.

Kate’s 2¢: “Sanibel sisters: a Shellseeker Beach novel : book four” by Hope Holloway

“Sanibel sisters: a Shellseeker Beach novel : book four” by Hope Holloway

NOTE: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as, describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ shares her thoughts about what she’s read. In her opinion…

   Victoria Westlake did a nice job of narrating this beach book.

https://www.hopeholloway.com › about

Hope Holloway is an author of charming, heartwarming women’s fiction featuring unforgettable families and friends, and the emotional challenges they conquer.

From NLS/BARD/LOC

Sanibel sisters: a Shellseeker Beach novel : book four DB120451

Holloway, Hope Reading time: 9 hours, 52 minutes.

Victoria Westlake

Family

Women

Romance

“As the found family in Shellseeker Beach prepares for the high tourist season, excitement is in the air as the new Sanibel Sisters boutique opens. Eliza navigates the possibility of a second chance romance, but an unexpected fear is slowing things down. Her daughter has decided she is all in with a man she once thought was all wrong, but efforts to help him out of a bind threaten to backfire. And when Katie finally opens her heart to the first true love of her life, her stepsister’s arrival suddenly changes everything”–Provided by publisher.

Download Sanibel sisters: a Shellseeker Beach novel : book four DB120451