As you can guess I love nature.
I built this Ballyyahoo website to encourage children to get out and about and explore the great outdoors.
I live in Galway, near the beautiful Burren and I go walking every day.
I bring my camera along to capture what I see so I can share my pictures with Ballyyahoo.
When I read an article in The Guardian about a new book, The Lost Words, that celebrates nature, recovers words that would otherwise be lost and is being distributed to schools I couldn’t help but be excited.
So was Jane Beaton, a bus driver and travel consultant from Scotland. Jane has already raised £25,000 to fund the distribution of The Lost Words to UK schools. I wish this could happen here in Ireland.
The Lost Words is a beautifully illustrated book containing poems which are likened to ‘spells’ which conjure up wild things.
Illustrated by Jackie Morris and written by Robert Macfarlane the book has won two literary awards and is a step towards closing the gap between childhood and nature.
The aim of the book is to save those lost words and reconnect with nature.
It’s hard to believe but words like acorn, wren, conker and dandelion are becoming lost!
A for Acorn was replaced in the Oxford Junior Dictionary by A for attachment, B for Buttercup by B for blog and C for conker – C for chatroom.
I grew up knowing and loving all those words. But it wasn’t just about the words it was the meaning.
The acorn was a beautiful object in itself but it was also a fairy’s hat.
I found it in a fairy glen. What else could it be?
How could we let a child grow up without discovering that for themselves?
And then there are buttercups – what beautiful little flowers and how else can you tell if someone likes butter or not?
Growing up in the city meant being surrounded by grey.
But I was lucky to have a granny in green Wicklow, in Ireland to spend summers with.
The best memories of my childhood are connected with the fun I had exploring beaches and woodlands, hills and trails.
These adventures made a difference in my life that I can never fully explain but will never forget.
Wild creative fun is what children remember.
How many kids are going to grow up having wonderful memories of shooting something on a screen?
I really hope that Lost Words will inspire families to get out into nature and wish the authors every success.
Best wishes
Grace
P.S. All the content on this site is free for you. I sometimes become an affiliate for a book but only if I love it and so it is with The Lost Words. All that means is that I receive a few cents commission if you buy through my links. This is no cost to you and it helps cover some of the expenses associated with keeping Ballyyahoo up and running.
Some genuinely fantastic content on this web site, regards for contribution. “Be absolutely determined to enjoy what you do.” by Sarah Knowles Bolton. Juliette Fonz Eno
Very enjoyable website, Grace.