World Book Day, celebrated today, 7th March, has the declared aim: Our mission is to give every child and young person a book of their own.
It is celebrated in the UK, although I have no idea whether this is an idea that has been taken up elsewhere, and would be interested to find out.
Schools, in particular, seem to have embraced the idea, with children encouraged to attend classes dressed as their favourite book or literary character. Thus hundreds of Harry Potters and Willy Wonkas and Very Hungry Caterpillars march into schools across the country once each year.
A splendid thought!
Which brings me to a marvellous project aimed at schools across the country.
Growing, in a way, out of Robert Macfarlane’s brilliant book Landmarks is The Lost Words, a collaboration between Robert Macfarlane and artist Jackie Morris. I can do no better than to quote Jackie Morris on the reasons: It had come to the attention of some who work in the world of words that certain words were slipping out of common usage. As a result when it came to amend the junior dictionary for a new edition these words were gone… These words included bluebell, conker, heron, acorn and perhaps the one that cut the deepest for me, kingfisher.
So The Lost Words is aimed towards children, to encourage them, through the words and paintings of the book, to discover the natural world that so many of them know nothing of.
So many grow up today without any meaningful contact with the natural world, and this book aims to encourage them to know and to love and protect it.
And the project – the campaign, really, in a very ad hoc way, is to raise money where necessary to place a copy of the book in every school in Britain. It has already been achieved in Scotland, I understand, and hopefully, it will soon be achieved in every other school in Britain.
Mick Canning 
That’s a great idea. I know Dolly Parton has a similar initiative in her county where she grew up…kids get books at certain intervals. I’m all for making sure that everyone reads
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It is, isn’t it? Encourage children to love books when they’re young and it should, hopefully, stay with them.
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Problem is, the parents need to set the example…..
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Frequently a problem!
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Damn parents….
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Our son’s last school made a really big thing of it. Frequently bringing authors into school. Sadly new school did nothing. Seems such a missed opportunity
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It is a missed opportunity. We should encourage reading any time we can
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Yes, we really should.
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That is a shame. My experience is that the kids love it, and it often stimulates them to read more.
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Can’t believe that words like are are being left out of dictionaries. Seems incredible. Always loved World Book Day when our boys were at school, the dressing up was always a major deal.
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The dressing up is a great way to draw them in and encourage participation. No, it seems incredible to me, too. But working outdoors in the countryside, I have been surprised at the number of children I have taken for sessions who even live in rural villages but never go out and engage with the countryside. In today’s world, that’ll be the lure of the internet and 10,000 channels of TV.
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The word ‘acorn’ has been lost? I’m truly shocked. I remember playing with acorn cups as a kid [in Australia] and learning how to blow a whistle from them. Perhaps schools need a grandparents project as well, to come in and teach kids about these lost arts.
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Not lost, but lots of kids have so little contact with the outside world they haven’t come across them. It seems crazy, but that’s the 21st century and the world of the internet and TV.
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I love the digital world, but for me, it’s always balanced by the real world. We need to give our kids those same opportunities.
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Yes, a question of balance, like so much in life.
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Yup.
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That looks like a beautiful book. I agree, children need more encouragement to encounter nature these days.
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It’s a stunningly beautiful book. And they do need encouragement, sadly.
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I’m going to get a copy just for myself. I would have got it for my grandson but, thankfully, his mum and dad have brought him up to love interacting with nature … might let him have a peek though. ☺
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Great idea!
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A terrific idea, Mick. Thanks for sharing.
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