Since 2010 common countryside words have started to disappear from children’s dictionaries. This magically illustrated “book of spells” aims to help children conjure back these words lost, such as adder, starling and dandelion; to bring them back to the landscape and their knowledge. It is to inspire and imbue with them a sense of awe and bewilderment of the wonderful wildlife that surrounds us.

As Robert Macfarlane begins the book:

Once upon a time, words began to vanish from the language of children. They disappeared so quietly that at first almost no one noticed – fading away like water on stone. The words were those children used to name the natural world around them: acorn, adder, bluebell, bramble, conker – gone!

Fern, heather, kingfisher, otter, raven, willow, wren … all of them gone! The words were becoming lost: no longer vivid in children’s voices, no longer alive in their voices.

Thank you for your support in helping this spellbinding book reach the children of Lincolnshire, for helping them conjure back these lost words of our beautiful countryside.

An Explorer’s Guide to the Lost Words, was created by Eva John and published by The John Muir Trust, which is a conservation charity dedicated to protecting and enhancing wild places in the UK. The guide is a valuable resource for teachers that combines with the National Curriculum.

We have kindly been given permission to print this guide to accompany and complement the Lost Words.

We are delighted that Walker’s Books, a tremendous independent shop in Stamfod have kindly helped us with the ordering and storage of the The Lost Words.