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The Lost Words: Rediscover our natural world with this spellbinding book

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I thought the work of the lexicographers and assistants was fascinating and this book encouraged me to research the creation of dictionaries further. As the author's note mentions at the end of the story, many of the people and events in this book were real. But Esme, her father, her friend Gareth, and servant Lizzie were fictional. I admired the characters of Lizzie, Gareth, and Esme's father for what seemed to be hard work during lifetimes of trying circumstances. In a Cambridge University study, conservationists found British primary schoolchildren 'substantially better' at identifying Pokémon characters than species of common British wildlife. For weasel, read Weedle; for peewit, read Pikachu. A major work for children’s choir and orchestra has been co-commissioned from composer James Burton by the Boston Symphony (USA) and Hallé Orchestra (Manchester, UK) for premiere performances in 2019 (Boston) and 2020 (Hallé).

In the beginning of the book, I started to bore , but then it took off like wildfire. I was then absorbed until the end and I’m sure it had to be tedious sorting through and explaining the history of the dictionary and real time line events along with a story.a b Case, Jo (8 May 2020). "A few words in your ear about gender, dictionaries and kindness". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 23 March 2021. The Dictionary of Lost Words' wins 2021 Indie Book of the Year". Books+Publishing. 23 March 2021 . Retrieved 23 March 2021. but then once esme became older and the years progressed, this story became more focused on esmes personal trials, such as pregnancy, womens suffrage, depression, and the casualties of england at war. which are all important topics, but i just wasnt connecting to this narrative as much as i was with esme childhood. maybe its because the last 2/3 have such a dreary tone compared to the beginning and i just wasnt feeling it. The story begins with Esme as a young curious and bubbly girl, then she becomes closed off due to some events. Being surrounded by loving people helps her heal and she becomes approachable again and thriving. You can feel this process of her transformation.

Instead it's a fictionalized account of the writing and compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary. It begins with young Esme who hides out under the table in the Scriptorium where her father works. She is enamored of words and is delighted when slips of them, with their definitions and quotes, find their way to the floor. Esme came to see that their voices were also silenced, the words they used were not deemed important enough for inclusion in the dictionary. She begins compiling a dictionary of her own to give voices to women who were otherwise ignored.Words change over time, you see. The way they look, the way they sound; sometimes even their meaning changes. They have their own history.” Later she finds other tossed slip of papers so stashing them is turning into her special game. Later she realizes each word she stashed relating with women unrecorded. That gives her idea to form her own dictionary consists of lost words mostly about women’s world! Where, I wondered, are the women in this story, and does it matter that they are absent? —It took me a while to find the women, and when I did, they were cast in minor and supporting roles." A novel that, includes the actual, true early history of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). The author was also given a dictionary when young and had wondered about the influence of women and how they relate to words. Is something lost in a words definition when only defined by men? Do men and women define words differently?

This is a beautiful book which I was put on the trail off after someone was telling me about the lost words project. The basic idea is to counter the fact that slowly there are words which are leaving the English vocabulary due to the younger generations either not knowing or using them. I have to admit: this book needs your patience, attention, full focus. Especially first third is overwhelmingly slow but when you get into the story and lose yourself in the precious world of words, connecting with Esme and the preparation process of first Oxford dictionary, your curiosity takes over and you get more excited to learn more by becoming part of the world and linguistics. It being a children's book also accounts for its massiveness (another thing I hadn't expected *lol*). Seriously, this book is HUGE. Latch-keyed, adj: An unchaperoned or undisciplined young woman. (Women should be latch-keyed and allowed to go out as they please.) The fictional part of this story concerns, Esme, whose father is widowed at Esme's birth. Esme's father is a member of Murphy's team and he brings Esme to work with him each day. As a youngster, Esme spends time under the big table of the workers and often gathers discarded word slips and hides them away in a chest in the room of house servant Lizzie. Lizzie, although just eight years older than Esme, is a combination of mother, companion, and maid to Esme, especially once Esme is banished from the Scriptorium for interfering with the work there.

From Acorn to Weasel: a gorgeous, hand-illustrated, large-format spellbook celebrating the magic and wonder of the natural world At six years old Esme becomes enthralled with the words she finds on the slips of paper, as she sits under the work table in the Scriptorium where her father works on the Oxford English Dictionary. Later working there herself, she finds words of common usage mostly by women, words that would never make it into the dictionary from places, other than under that table. The beauty of these words Esme discovers, even those considered vulgar, is that the usage of them is real and linked to their life experiences and for Esme that is enough to confirm their importance and merit and should be preserved . Some of these words are based on her own experiences as well, both the sad, heartbreaking moments and the joyful ones.

The loftiness and tedium of collecting and cataloguing of words, is undertaken by Dr. Murray, the lexicographer. Esme's doting father is a part of his team. The title of the book was misleading to me, I could not fathom that it isn't a catalogue of obsolete words but a full-fledged interesting narration from a female's perspective about the words omitted imperiously pertaining to females and common folks by the master-decider of a dictionary, the lexicographer, Mr. Murray and his team. I was dazed to know that a word - Catamenia existed ! It never occurred to me all that went into compiling early dictionaries. Male scholars worked for decades to compile the words and definitions to go into the first Oxford English Dictionary, words and definitions whose final acceptance was at the discretion of the editors of the volumes. This story describes the garden shed in Oxford where real life lexicographer, James Murray, built a Scriptorium, a shed behind his house, where he and his team of scholars could work on amassing words and definitions. Murray and his wife had eleven children who were very involved in Murray's work. I loved Esme from the tine she enjoyed climbing under the table at the Scriptorium. Feet and legs beneath a table can tell you so much about the person attached but unseen. At about the same age as Esme, I could be found crawling under the table at large family gatherings. Aunt Teresa's feet and legs could belong to no other relative, neatly crossed at the ankle above the very still feet in orthopedic shoes. But which relative kept crossing and uncrossing their legs, tapping out some unheard tune? Was the adult conversation disturbing or did they need to use the bathroom? This underworld entertainment would continue for me, and for Esme, until my absence was noticed and I was forced to join those in the above world. Of course, we both received an admonition for unladylike behavior.Phosphorescence' wins 2021 ABIA Book of the Year". Books+Publishing. 28 April 2021 . Retrieved 29 April 2021. Overall, I thought that this book provided some interesting, good food for thought, but it should be been half of its size.

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