Jackie Morris

With contributions by: William Boyd, Candice Carty-Williams, Imtiaz Dharker, Roddy Doyle, Pico Iyer, Robert Macfarlane, Andy Miller, Jackie Morris, Jan Morris, Sisonke Msimang, Dina Nayeri, Chigozie Obioma, Michael Ondaatje, David Pilling, Max Porter, Philip Pullman, Alice Pung, Jancis Robinson, S.F.Said, Madeleine Thien, Salley Vickers, John Wood and Markus Zusak'This story, like so many stories, begins with a gift. The gift, like so many gifts, was a book...' So begins the essay by Robert Macfarlane that inspired this collection. In this cornucopia of an anthology, you will find essays by some of the world's most beloved novelists, nonfiction writers, essayists and poets. 'You will see books taking flight in flocks, migrating around the world, landing in people's hearts and changing them for a day or a year or a lifetime. 'You will see books sparking wonder or anger; throwing open windows into other languages, other cultures, other minds; causing people to fall in love or to fight for what is right. 'And more than anything, over and over again, you will see books and words being given, received and read - and in turn prompting further generosity.' Published to coincide with the 20th anniversary of global literacy non-profit, Room to Read, The Gifts of Reading forms inspiring, unforgettable, irresistible proof of the power and necessity of books and reading.Inspired by Robert Macfarlane Curated by Jennie Orchard

Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris asked for this new album to be created as a companion piece to their forthcoming book The Book of Birds. They have worked closely with the 7 featured folk/world musicians (Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis, Kris Drever, Seckou Ketia, Rachel Newton, Beth Porter and Jim Molyneux) to create a mixed media book and CD which brings together writing, art, music and nature. The album itself takes the form of a beautifully designed square box filled with art cards featuring newly commissioned art by Jackie Morris, a hard back CD book with newly commissioned art by Jackie, documentary photography of the collaborative process, a comprehensive article by Robert Macfarlane discussing the ways in which different art forms can inspire one another as well as beautiful writing from each of the musicians. The CD itself is housed within the CD Book. There is also a pull out (concertina) artwork of a migration by Jackie Morris created especially for this mixed media book. The Book of Birds (this album's inspiration) is a love letter to the splendours and mysteries of birdlife, and a clarion call to halt the loss of birds from land, sea and sky. Both the book and this new album are a poetic and creative response to the great thinning of our skies. "This album is a tremendous and powerful thing...singing bright and fierce right into our contemporary moment". Robert Macfarlane

Enjoy stunning images and moving words in your home or office with The Lost Spells 2027 Wall Calendar based on the poetry book by award-winning duo Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris. This calendar calls readers to notice the natural beauty that can be lost amidst the busyness of life. Retreat into the tranquil brushstroke illustrations with thoughtful psalms about everyday species. Featuring 12 full breathtaking and stunning illustrations of nature and animals Bonus spread for September–December 2026 Generous grids for adding appointments and reminders Includes major official world holidays Opens to 12 inches x 24 inches

The Book of Birds is a field guide with a difference: It shows readers not just how to identify birds, but also how to identify with them. Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris conjure the unique spirit of nearly fifty once-common species: avocet to yellowhammer, kestrel to kingfisher, skylark to nightingale. In lyrical and incantatory essays, Macfarlane describes each bird's habits and habitats, their patterns of flight and patterns of song, how they hunt or fish or scavenge or gather, how they nest and raise their chicks, the myths that attend them, the threats that shadow them--and how their lives intersect with our own. On every page we encounter Morris's exhilarating artwork, painted from life in watercolor and gold leaf, and animated with an extraordinary attention to detail. The Book of Birds is a love letter to the thrilling variety and mysteries of birdlife, and a clarion call to halt the rapid depletion of our skies.

From the creators of the internationally bestselling, award-winning, multi-adapted phenomenon The Lost Words: a dazzling celebration of birdlife in Britain, re-imagining the classic field guide for a new generation of nature lovers A great thinning of the skies is underway. Around 50% of bird species are in decline worldwide. Our dawns and springs are quieter each year than the last. An almost unimaginable abundance has been lost. It does not have to be this way –– but we will not save what we do not love. The Book of Birds is a compendium of forty-nine bird species, from Avocet to Yellowhammer, all of which are declining or endangered in Britain. Inspired by the classic bird-books with which the authors grew up, this is a field guide with a difference. It asks not ‘What is that bird?’, but ‘Who is that bird?’ It shows its readers how to identify birds, but also how to identify with them. With lyrical precision and playfulness, Robert Macfarlane evokes each bird’s habits and habitats –– their patterns of flight and of song, how they hunt and gather, how they nest and raise their young, the stories and myths which attend them, the threats which shadow them, and how their wild lives intersect with our own. And on every page we encounter Jackie Morris’s exhilarating artwork, painted in watercolour and gold and animated by an extraordinary attention to detail and sense of life. Set among this dazzling flock of species are seven sections celebrating the 'Seven Wonders' that together make up the everyday miracle of 'Bird': Nest, Egg, Beak, Song, Feather, Flight and Migration. Seven years in the making, The Book of Birds is a love letter to the splendours and mysteries of birdlife, and a clarion call to halt the loss of birds from land, sea and sky. From Dipper to Dunnock and Kestrel to Kingfisher, from mountain to ocean and city to river, Jackie Morris and Robert Macfarlane conjure the unique spirit and lifeway of each species. This is a book to be treasured by bird-lovers of all ages, and a future classic work of reference.

Wild Folk comprises seven richly illustrated fables of transformation and power, summoned from the ancient stones beneath our feet and transformed by word and image into portals between past and future. These tales from the stones are neither new nor old. They are full of wild folk , shape-shifting spirits that carry the energy that connects all things. You will meet selkies and silver trout and the black fox, as big as a wolf and so fast and cunning she drives the lord of the manor to madness and oblivion; the woman of flowers who is happier living as an owl; the boy who learns to feel the songs and stories of trees through his skin; Wayland, the smith who can hammer metal to such airy thinness he makes his own wings; and the great white raven, a bird so rare it awakens the king who sleeps beneath the stones of the wild west cliffs of Wales. This book brings together the words of Jackie Morris and the stained-glass paintings of Tamsin Abbott, but the stories come from both, a true collaboration born out of friendship and hope. These are tales to make you see, listen and most of all feel the wild magic that links stone, tree, fox and star.

This book is a companion to The Unwinding. It contains within images that tell stories, but it reads like a silent film. Each of the images is an invitation to dream. The tales of this silent edition are not pinned to the page by words. Each dreamer will find their own path, perhaps a new one each time they return.

Threaded through the curious world of The Unwinding are words, slight and lyrical. Their aim is to set the reader's mind adrift from the troubles of our times, into peaceful harbours where imagination can stretch, where quiet reflection can bring peace.

He had been waiting all his life, hoping to hear the hare's song… The boy and his family are special. While others hunt the hares, his family search for leverets orphaned by the hunt and keep them safe. But this isn't why they are special. It is because they hold the secret of the song of the golden hare.

From the moment she saw him, the girl knew the bear had come for her. How many times had she dreamed of him? Now, here he was, as if spelled from her dreams. This encounter marks the beginning of a long and extraordinary journey. At the bear's secret palace in faraway mountains she is treated so courteously, though troubled by the bear's unfathomable sadness.

The Wild Swans is a beautiful and lyrical extended version of the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen in Jackie Morris's enchanting retelling, complete with delicate watercolour paintings throughout this new edition. A story about love and bravery, about how to listen, and about how, when we do not listen, we hear what we wish to hear.

An Accordion Book doesn't open, it unfolds. One side is filled with beautiful watercolour images of an animal: sometimes in motion, sometimes at rest. The other is filled with text – poems, descriptions, invocations – inspired by the same animal.

One cherry, one cheetah Two dogs, two balls, one big, one small Three bears, three bowls, three silver spoons This stunning counting book, illustrating numbers 1 to 10 in beautiful animal paintings, is now presented as a very special board book, embellished with gold leaf as in the original hardback edition, bringing this gorgeous book to a younger readership. With playful words and stunning pictures with lots of detail to pore over, the book depicts dogs, bears, foxes, elephants, tigers, pandas, otters, mice – and of course one cheetah and a cherry – making this a perfect introduction to numbers and counting.

An Accordion Book doesn't open, it unfolds. One side is filled with beautiful watercolour images of an animal: sometimes in motion, sometimes at rest. The other is filled with text - poems, descriptions, invocations - inspired by the same animal.Together they work as spells to summon the animal's spirit. Jackie Morris has painted them using antique watercolours, some from boxes which hadn't been opened for over 150 years, woken from their slumber with a single drop of water.Hare and Hound will join the first two Accordions, Fox and Otter, in a series that will go on to include Owl and Cat among many others.