The Lost Words – FREE copy for Nottinghamshire schools

Published 3rd October 2018

The Lost Words

A FREE copy of the captivating book ‘The Lost Words’ is winging its way to all Primary, Junior and Special schools across Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire thanks to the wonderful Lost Words for Nottinghamshire crowdfunding campaign.

Our Inspire delivery vans will be busy delivering the books to schools this term, so keep an eye out for your school’s copy!

There will be ‘An Explorer’s Guide to The Lost Words’ accompanying the book for use in classrooms, at home or even in the woods!  And if that’s not enough, you can also download a free activity pack, put together by Hamish Hamilton to celebrate the the first anniversary of the publication of the book. 


About “The Lost Words”:
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 lost words, such as kingfisher, starling and ivy; to bring them back to the landscape and their knowledge. It is to inspire and imbue them with a sense of awe and wonder of the beautiful wildlife that surrounds us.

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.”

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