The Lost Spells

Macfarlane and Morris reunite to conjure the wonder of goldfinches and gorse, foxes and snow hares in this second volume of illustrated poems designed to spark a deeper love and appreciation for the natural world. But where their The Lost Words exhilarated, with its defiant reclamation of discarded dictionary words, this collection’s songs both describe and lament, swerving between ecstatic highs and plangent notes of sorrow: “Loss is the tune of our age, hard to miss and hard to bear.... But there has always been singing in dark times—and wonder is needed now more than ever.” Macfarlane’s lyrics—often, though not always, structured as acrostics—ring with consonance (“Thrift thrives where most life fails, falls,/ is cast adrift”) and wordplay (“Woodpecker, tree-wrecker”) to limn 21 ordinary wonders of the British countryside, many of which are also common North American species. Morris’s fluid artwork renders the elegant tilt of a fox’s snout, birds’ calligraphic flight patterns, and the eyelike whorls of silver birch bark. The glossary—“at once a puzzle and a key”—identifies each species depicted, turning poetry to practicality and allowing this petite volume to do double-duty as an artful field guide. One to treasure. All ages. [em](Oct.) [/em]