Books by Jackie Morris

From a unique collaboration between the co-author of The Lost Words and The Lost Spells and an acclaimed visual artist comes 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 unique format unfolds to reveal a series of watercolour paintings of a hound, accompanied by poems, descriptions, and invocations inspired by the animal. The artwork is created using antique watercolours, some from boxes that hadn't been opened for over 150 years, revived with a single drop of water.

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. When the hares begin to move across the land the boy and his sister know that their greatest challenge has begun. They must follow and watch and wait until the time comes for the old queen to leave and her child to reign in her place. But others are searching for the golden queen of the hares, a hunter with two hounds, one silver, one black. Can two children, on their own, keep the golden queen safe from the man and his hounds?

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 courteously but troubled by the bear's unfathomable sadness. As the bear's secret unravels, another adventure unfolds, which takes her to the homes of the four winds and beyond, to the castle east of the sun, west of the moon. In this new edition of Jackie Morris's captivating picture book, the acclaimed writer and artist retells this classic Norwegian fairy tale - a mysterious story of love, loyalty and freedom. "Beautiful, lyrical and lovely." Joanne Harris on The Wild Swans "Jackie Morris does more than tell a story; she conjures glorious landscapes of the heart." Meg Rosoff For The Unwinding: "A quiet masterpiece . . . a love story, a hope story, a story out of time, out of stricture, out of the narrow artificial bounds by which we try to contain the wild wonderland of reality because we are too frightened to live wonder-stricken." Maria Popova, Brain Pickings "The tales feel like half-remembered dreams, peopled with fairytale characters and magnificent creatures." Rebecca Armstrong, i Paper Best Books of 2020

“A quiet masterpiece . . . a love story, a hope story, a story out of time, out of stricture, out of the narrow artificial bounds by which we try to contain the wild wonderland of reality because we are too frightened to live wonder-stricken.”―Maria Popova, Brain Pickings This book is a companion to The Unwinding. It contains 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. The illustrations are intended to inspire: there is space to draw and write, to paint dreams and stories, thoughts and verse, in new worlds, wherever your pen may guide you. The Silent Unwinding is designed to be a companion, a talisman to be turned to again and again and a place of respite from an increasingly frenetic and complex world. Dreams and wishes are the inspiration at times like this.

This is a book for dreamers. Its purpose? To ease the soul. Longlisted for the 2021 Kate Greenaway Medal "A quiet masterpiece . . . a love story, a hope story, a story out of time, out of stricture, out of the narrow artificial bounds by which we try to contain the wild wonderland of reality because we are too frightened to live wonder-stricken.”—Maria Popova, Brain Pickings From award-winning writer & illustrator Jackie Morris, a book that enters the realm of dreaming. With its combination of lush illustration and creative storytelling, this book is destined to become a classic. The paintings between these covers were worked in the between times—between waking and dreaming, during the unwinding of the soul, when the pressures of work were too much. Half-story, half-fairytale, Jackie Morris has created an enchanting tome, to keep on the bedside table, to give as a gift to young and old alike. Threaded through the curious world of The Unwinding are words, there to set the reader’s mind adrift from their own troubles and the into peaceful harbors where imagination can stretch, and where quiet reflection can bring peace. The Unwinding is designed to be a companion, a talisman to be turned to again and again and a place of respite from an increasingly frenetic and complex world. Dreams and wishes are the inspiration at times like this.

A cat sleeps, curled up in a warm place, and while it sleeps it dreams. . . of being a tiger, flame cat of the forest; a cheetah - fast as the wind on the African plains; a lion, lounging through the heat of the day, tangled in sunshine on the African savannah; a jaguar, perfectly camouflaged deep in the jungle. And the cat dreams of being a lynx, a puma, a snow leopard, a Scottish wild cat, an Asian fishing cat, and the rare Amur leopard. Finally Cat wakes, a domestic cat again, telling his dreams to the child who is stroking him. Ten wild habitats, ten wild cats and one domestic cat are dramatically and beautifully illustrated in this unique celebration of the cat.

Where the water churns with salmon, thick and rich with leaping fishes, there the brown bear stands and catches the wild king of the river. With stunning watercolour paintings, this lyrical picture book describes eight bears from all over the world, all shown in their wild habitats: Black Bear, Polar Bear, Sloth Bear, Spectacle Bear, Sunbear, Panda, Moonbear, Brown Bear. But which is the best bear of all? Your own teddy bear of course!

From the co-author and illustrator of The Lost Spells, and The Lost Words—single animal focused meditations in accordion form. 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. Fox and Otter are two very special limited edition “accordions”.

Who are you if you've never seen another face like yours? Where do you belong if you don't know where your home is? What do you call yourself when others call you 'freak'...? Skrimsli is a second fantasy adventure from author Nicola Davies, set in a world where animals and humans can sometimes share their thoughts. It traces the early life of Skrimsli, the tiger sea captain who stole readers' hearts in The Song that Sings Us. He and his friends, Owl and Kal, must first escape the clutches of a tyrannical circus owner, then stop a war and save an ancient forest! They are helped by a desert princess and her eagle, a chihuahua who thinks she's a wolf, a horse with heart of gold and the crew of a very unusual ship.This is a story full of excitement and danger, which explores themes of friendship, loyalty, identity and love, in the context of some of humanity's toughest problems.

This is poetry reimagined by a visual artist; words transformed back into their original function as images. Feather, Leaf, Bark & Stone is a book of poems and meditations with a difference. More than a hundred short texts have been typed onto small squares of gold leaf, then photographed. These pieces are arranged in a sequence which culminates in a glorious final section made up of texts typed directly onto leaves, bark and feathers. This book is full of the light and wind that fills the Pembrokeshire coast where it was crafted, each page anchored to the landscape by the mechanical rhythm of Jackie’s antique typewriters. The result is a collection of individual artworks to be both looked at and read. Feather, Leaf, Bark & Stone confirms Jackie Morris as an artist and writer with limitless creativity and expanding power.

Harlon has been raised to protect her younger siblings, twins Ash and Xeno, and their outlawed power of communicating with animals. But when the sinister Automators attack their mountain home, Xeno is kidnapped and Harlon and Ash are separated. In a thrilling and dangerous environmental adventure they must all journey alone through ice fields and forests of Rumyc, and over oceans, to try to find each other and fulfil a mysterious promise made to their mother.

Back in a time when people and animals lived together in harmony, a bear-child is stolen away from his mother. A hunter and his wife find the child and, wrapping him in sealskin, they sing him songs of the ice, the wind and the great white bears. One day the child wanders off and a bear comes to take him back to his mother. But by now the hunter is on the trail, determined to kill the creature that has taken his child… Set in the pristine polar regions of the Arctic, Jackie Morris's beautiful story reminds us that we are caretakers of these wild creatures and our actions directly affect their future. To listen to a reading of Ice Bear click here

The largest creative response to the climate and ecological emergency the world has yet seen. 2019 was the year of rebellion. It was the year nurses, poets, nine-year-olds and grandparents came together to say: we know the truth about climate change – now it is time to act. But what words describe this crisis? What words can help our children come to terms with the future they will inherit? Earlier this year, Culture Declares Emergency invited people from all around the world to find those words by writing a letter to the earth. The invitation was open to all – to think beyond the human narrative and bear witness to the scale of the crisis. Letters of love, loss, hope and action were written by over 1000 people. Now published as a collection, Letters to the Earth brings together the voices of children and the public with authors, scientists and playwrights in the first creative project of its kind. Alongside letters from the public, Letters to the Earth received submissions from artist and peace activist Yoko Ono, actor Mark Rylance, writer and illustrator of The Lost Words Jackie Morris, novelist Anna Hope, environmental writer Jay Griffiths and Green Party MP Caroline Lucas . Together they are an invitation to consider how

From a dragon as big as a village to a tiny dragon with whisper-thin wings, from a snaggle-toothed dragon to a sea-dragon which races dolphins on the waves, this enchanting book is FULL of dragons! Find out just exactly why their owners find them so entrancing in this must-have book for any young dragon fans!

"From bestselling Landmarks author Robert Macfarlane and acclaimed artist and author Jackie Morris, a beautiful illustrated book for readers young and old. All over the country, there are words disappearing from children's lives. These are the words of the natural world--Dandelion, Otter, Bramble and Acorn, all gone. The rich landscape of wild imagination and wild play is rapidly fading from our children's minds. The Lost Words stands against the disappearance of wild childhood. It is a joyful celebration of nature words and the natural world they invoke. With acrostic spell-poems by award-winning writer Robert Macfarlane and hand-painted illustration by Jackie Morris, this enchanting book captures the irreplaceable magic of language and nature for all ages"--