The Lost Spells

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ROBERT MACFARLANE is a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and the author of a number of bestselling and prize-winning books, including The Wild Places, The Old Ways, Holloway, Landmarks, and Underland, which won the Wainwright Prize. His work has been translated into many languages and widely adapted for film, television, and radio. The American Academy of Arts and Letters awarded him the E. M. Forster Award for Literature in 2017. He is a word collector and mountain climber — and he has three children who have taught him more about the world than any book. And a simple but effective stage design allowed the actors to move freely and helped the audience to use their own imagination when needed. The Guardian ★★★★ The Stage ★★★★★ Musical Theatre Review ★★★★★ Theatre Weekly ★★★★ Fairy Powered Productions ★★★★ Broadway World Educated at Nottingham High School, Pembroke College, Cambridge and Magdalen College, Oxford, he is currently a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and teaches in the Faculty of English at Cambridge.

The moment one fathoms this, it seems nothing less than an elemental sacrilege not to go through our days — these alms from chance — in a state of perpetual ecstasy over every living thing we encounter, not to reverence every oak and every owl and every leaf of grass as a living benediction.

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Complement The Lost Spells, to the lushness of which no screen does justice, with naturalist Sy Montgomery’s poetic memoir of what thirteen animals taught her about being a good creature, then revisit Macfarlane’s enchanting narrative journey into the hidden universe below the world we walk and Morris’s enchanting pictorial journey into the hidden universe beyond the waking world. 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., TX School Library Journal Wonderful activities and ideas celebrating the magic of nature and language which can be used standalone or consecutively as a cross-curricular scheme of work in English, Science, Art, PSHE and to support research skills. Each section takes one of the animals or items from nature featured in each spell, and invites children to Seek, Find, Speak, Write and/or Create their response with extracts and illustrations from the book to support and inspire learning: Nature is so big and spectacular and deeply magical and The Lost Words delivered that to children in a way that’s not magic dust and wands,” she said. “So much educational material for children is a bit boring or dumbed-down and this just gave them permission for their imaginations to run wild.”

A timeless, stunning gift to be pored over and cherished for years - dazzlingly beautiful and richly inventive, discover the magical new book from the creators of The Lost Words Enchanting literally means "to put under a spell." Now I'm sure you can see why I think "The Lost SPELLS" is utterly enchanting! A major work for children’s choir and orchestra has been co-commissioned from composer James Burton by the Boston Symphony (USA) and Hallé Orchestra (Manchester, UK) for premiere performances in 2019 (Boston) and 2020 (Hallé). This union of natural history, poetry, art, and whimsy is, indeed, a truly enchanting all-ages book of life to contemplate, read aloud, and share.”— BooklistThe Lost Spells: Listening to a Landscape of Voices opens at The Sill: National Landscape Discovery Centre in Northumberland on Saturday 23 July 2022 and runs until 4 June 2023. The Lost Spells: Listening to a Landscape of Voices is an immersive exhibition which features original artwork, soundscapes and interactive experiences. A leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars,” the young Walt Whitman sang in one of the finest poems from his Song of Myself— the aria of a self that seemed to him then, as it always seems to the young, infinite and invincible. But when a paralytic stroke felled him decades later, unpeeling his creaturely limits and his temporality, he leaned on the selfsame reverence of nature as he considered what makes life worth living: The Lost Spells is a celebration of the natural; it is a collection of prose poetry about foxes and trees and birds and rabbits and flowers: it is an elegy to what we are losing and what we must try to retain. Utterly enchanting, it’s a celebration of nature — but also language itself. If I ran the world, it’d be in every school library and classroom possible.”— Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

A gorgeous coffee-table book . . . with stunning artwork made with watercolour and gold leaf, and poems on words ranging from ‘acorn’ to ‘wren.’”— PEI Guardian The book began as a response to the removal of everyday nature words - among them "acorn", "bluebell", "kingfisher" and "wren" - from a widely used children’s dictionary, because those words were not being used enough by children to merit inclusion. But The Lost Words then grew to become a much broader protest at the loss of the natural world around us, as well as a celebration of the creatures and plants with which we share our lives, in all their wonderful, characterful glory."

What's on at The Sill?

All the actors excelled with each one striking a perfect chord between comedic timing and a serious tone when matters of the environment were brought to the forefront. As well as being a celebration of their spellbinding work, this new exhibition is a chance for visitors to learn more about Britain’s native species, many of which can be found in Northumberland National Park, and how together we can protect them for future generations to enjoy.