Nature has a way of leaving us speechless, yet it compels us to try and capture its essence in words. Whether it’s the stillness of a forest, a burst of flowers in spring, or the rush of a river, the beauty of nature finds its expression through language. Writers throughout time have been inspired by nature, drawn to represent its splendour, to bottle its magic in prose and poetry.
In a world brimming with digital noise and instant gratifications, books that celebrate the beauty of nature and language offer a serene escape. They transport us to landscapes painted with words, where language becomes the brush that captures nature’s essence.
But how do words convey such profound beauty? And how do different cultures and authors reflect this in their writing?
A Charm of Goldfinches (and other collective nouns) is an absolutely gorgeous book and educational and funny too. This is a really really good book – really do buy a copy! A gorgeous hardback read, 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 gatecrash 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 talented watercolour artist and ornithologist who writes some of England’s best-selling books about birds and other creatures. His designs are even on postage stamps on the Isle of Man.
A Book of Collective Nouns
A Parliament of Owls asks why geese are in a gaggle, are lions actually proud, and do crows deserve their murderous moniker? Collective nouns are the most bizarre and baffling aspects of the English language.
This absorbing book tells the stories of these evocative phrases, exploring the etymology behind them. Each collective noun summons up the animal or event it describes. For example, ‘a parliament of owls’ seems to be from the 1950s classic book The Chronicles of Narnia referencing a phrase from Chaucer. The perfect gift for any language or history buff!
A Book on the Lost Words of Nature
The Lost Words is a gorgeous large-size hardback gift book for children and adults like, created after discovering that a major dictionary is now leaving out some of the most familiar words about nature, but including others that are nothing to do with nature. Soon we’ll have dictionaries only listing ‘blackberries’ as electronic devices, over the fruits.
The words of the natural world are fast 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.
This book stands against the disappearance of wild childhood. It is a joyful celebration (in art and word) of nearby nature and its wonders.
With poems from award-winning writer Robert Macfarlane and illustrations by Welsh artist Jackie Morris, this enchanting book evokes the magic of language and nature for all ages. With matching music score for piano.
Robert Macfarlane is a best-selling writer whose books have been adapted for BBC TV. He is a Fellow of Emmanuel College Cambridge, and writes for newspapers on environment, literature and travel.
Jackie Morris is a best-selling and award-winning writer and artist, whose books have captured the hearts of hundreds of thousands of readers of all ages. She lives in a cottage on the cliffs of Pembrokshire, Wales.
