“Wonder is needed now more than ever,” Macfarlane writes in the introduction, and this book delivers it.Ī new anthology collects 235 years of American bird writing.Ĭan one diagnose the state of a nation through its attitude toward its aviary? This new volume from the Library of America makes such a project seem possible, assembling a centurieslong archive of U.S. Very much in the spirit of the duo’s magisterial The Lost Words (2018), this companion is significantly smaller than its sprawling companion at just 6.5 by 4.5 inches when closed, it will easily fit into a backpack or generously sized pocket. A glossary encourages readers to find each named species in the illustrations throughout the book––and to go one step further and bring the book outside, to find the actual subjects in nature. This intense interweaving of words and pictures creates a sense of immersion and interaction-and a sense that the natural world is part of us.

Each remarkable image exhibits a perfect mastery of design, lively line, and watercolor technique while the sophisticated palette of warms and cools both soothes and surprises. Gorgeous illustrations accompany the words, both as stand-alone double-page spreads and as spot and full-page illustrations. They are most effective when read aloud (as readers are encouraged to do in the introduction). Focusing on a particular subject, whether it be animal, insect, or plant, each poem (rendered in a variety of forms) delivers a “spell” that can be playful, poignant, or entreating. This is not a book about ecology or habitat this is a book that encourages readers to revel in, and connect with, the natural world. A powerful homage to the natural world, from England by way of Canada.Ĭombining poetic words (somewhat reminiscent of Mary Oliver’s poetry in their passion for the natural world) with truly stunning illustrations, this unusually beautiful book brings to readers the magic and wonder of nature.

Book the lost spells