Jackie Morris, illustrator of The Lost Words

Jackie Morris grew up in the Vale of Evesham and studied at Hereford College of Arts and Bath Academy.  She has illustrated for the New Statesman, Independant and Guardian, collaborated with Ted Hughes, and has written and illustrated over forty books including beloved classics such as The Snow Leopard, The Ice Bear, Song of the Golden Hare, Tell me a Dragon, East of the Sun, West of the Moon and The Wild Swans.  Jackie Morris lives in a cottage on the cliffs of Pembrokeshire.

In support of The Lost Words initiative in Dorset, Jackie wrote:

 “My first contact with books in any number came through school. A small school library where picture books faced outwards and enticed me with colour. We didn't have many books at home, so this seemed like a place of such wealth to me. It took me a long time to learn to read, and in many ways I am still learning, but it was the school library that guided me. It's for this reason that I wanted our book to reach schools, to be available to all children, not only those whose parents could afford books. I hope our book finds a welcome and a home in your school, and helps you to find also the beauty of the wild world, of which you are a small, and beautiful, part. In Dorset, you live and grow in such a beautiful place, and if you look around, open your hearts and eyes you will seek and find many of the creatures and plants that live in this book. My hope is that together you will have so many adventures.” 

Jackie has written more about the origins and the life of The Lost Words here on her blog.  She writes:

"Two years on, and my hope is that between us we have a book for all ages, a book that reads aloud to delight the ear, with images that dance in the heart. Spells for sleeping and dreaming wild places deep into the dreams of people."

Photo credit: Jay Armstrong