The lost words game

The Lost Words book was based on the realization that certain words in the Oxford Children’s Dictionary, for example Kingfisher, Conker and Otter had been omitted because the editors no longer felt them to be in common usage. Robert Macfarlane, the internationally renowned author of The Old Ways, Underland and Landmarks teamed up with the extraordinary artist Jackie Morris to write ‘spells’ (poems) and paint pictures of these birds, animals and inhabitants of the natural world, to celebrate their existence.

The card game involves marrying up these spells with their counterparts in nature, and using special cards to help one’s own efforts and hinder your opponents.