Nature-Focused Books on the English Language
English is an ancient language (the original Anglo-Savon version born in Leicestershire!) But today our beautiful words have sometimes been replaced by boring texting abbreviations and slang. Here are books (mostly about nouns!) to inspire us to treasure both language and nature.
An Artistic Guide to Lost Words of Nature
The Lost Words is a bumper book of lost words of nature, illustrated by Welsh artist Jackie Morris. Words from the natural world are disappearing from children’s lives (Dandelion, Otter, Bramble and Acorn). A wild landscape of imagination and play is rapidly fading from our children’s minds.
The book grew from a letter that Jackie was asked to sign, when it was found that certain words from the Oxford Press Junior Dictionary were to be removed: heron, acorn and even kingfisher?
Due to a culture that viewed the urban world as more important than the natural world. ‘A timely reminder that we should take a good long look at what we value’.
Jackie wondered how these words could be removed. What did that teach about the importance of nature? She emailed Robert and the book was born.
The poetry and art of this writer and artist appear on bags of Skylark Coffee, a non-profit brand based in Brighton, whose drink sales support many local charities.
The most beautiful and thought-provoking book I’ve read this year. Frank Cottrell-Boyce
Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris have mad a thing of astonishing beauty. Alex Preston
Gorgeous to look at and to read. Jeanette Winterston
Robert Macfarlane is the author of many books on landscape, nature, people and places, his work has been translated into many languages and widely adapted. Jackie Morris is an artist who lives in Wales, where she shares a small cottage with her children, two odd dogs and cats of various colours, mostly ginger!
Writer Christina Crook wrote her book The Joy of Missing Out (about the experiences of her experiences of an Internet fast), after witnessing a ‘man of the cloth’ blessing Blackberries (the phones, not the fruits).
A Fun Illustrated Book of Collective Nouns
A Charm of Goldfinches (and other collective nouns) is a gorgeous book and educational and funny too. This is a really really good book – really do buy a copy! You’ll learn all manner of info about creatures around the world, in funny narratives.
Some of the creatures featured (grouped by land and sea) include:
- An Array of Hedgehogs
- A Memory of Elephants
- A Skulk of Foxes
- A Down of Hares
- A Pride of Lions
- A Trip of Rabbits
- A Crash of Hippos
- A Richness of Martens
- A Dazzle of Zebras
- A Lounge of Lizards
- A Mural of Buntings
- A Skein of Geese
- A Crown of Kingfishers
- A Cloud of Bats
- A Murmuration of Starlings
- A Flutter of Butterflies
- A Watch of Nightingales
- A Pod of Dolphins
- A Harem of Seals
A Mob of Emus: Emus are nearly 6 feet tall and certainly not afraid to look you in the eye. They are like a bunch of locals who gate-crash your party.
All weird haircuts and mono-brows, they’re funny and quite charming at first. Until they’ve drunk all your booze and things start to turn a bit nasty. So it’s probably best to avoid eye contact from the get-go.
Matt Sewell is a popular writer and artist, and ornithologist. He has written several books on birds and the natural world, and his art even appears on stamps on the Isle of Man!
An Illustrated Guide to Words of Harmony
The Roots We Share is a lovingly illustrated guide to 100 words and phrases that bring people together, penned by Countdown’s dictionary expert Susie Dent.
At a time when the world feels more divided than ever, it’s important to remember the things that unite, rather than divide us. Susie has searched far and wide to unearth words and phrases that celebrate harmony, unity and the universal languages, that connect people across the world.
From conjobble (chat with a friend over food) to goodwilly (to be kind, generous and cheerful). At atone for a mistake (become ‘at one’ with someone again) or simply head off on a coddiwomple (a journey with no destination).
This joyous collection of words celebrates the things in life that bind us together – from friendship, love and peace to community, music and even the stars. These are the roots we share.
Susie Dent is a lexicographer and etymologist who was educated at a private convent school, set in 55 acres of woodland in Berkshire. After studying German at Princeton University, she spent a year teaching the language in New York, before returning to England and becoming the resident lexicographer on Countdown.
When I hear the news that the word ‘selfie’ has been named Word of the Year by Oxford Dictionaries, I feel slightly horrified. I still think of myself as fairly youthful but I haven’t got a clue what ‘twerk’ or ‘binge-watch’, two of the other words in the running, mean.
