the Book of Birds: beginning to take wing
The Book of Birds is the third book in the collaborative series with the writer and all round good egg who is Robert Macfarlane. Larger than The Lost Spells, smaller, but much denser, than The Lost Words, it is a celebration of the people I guess I love most in all the world, birds. As such, in its hymn of praise in paint and word to the people of the sky, it has, perhaps, been the most difficult, challenging creature I have worked on, and this is its first public showing.
The Book of Birds will be published at the beginning of May 2026, with a dawn chorus walk with Seven Fables, an exhibition at the Bodleian Library and a talk at the Sheldonian in Oxford, with Robert. There will also be a launch in London, and I hope many more events flying around the book. The exhibition is once again curated by the amazing Antonia Harrison, who commissioned The Lost Words exhibition so very early on in the life of the book.
The book took seven years to make, and centres around the seven wonders of birds, with seven species between each wonder. We had not intended it to take so long, but somehow from its conception it changed, grew, in size and content. Sometimes this is how books are. As you begin to work on them they grow into something different and cannot be constrained by the original intention, but become something more in the making than first intended. Seven years is a long time. So much happened, and some of the change in shape occurred because of the circumstances. The covid pandemic became a part of the shaping as Robert was balancing his university teaching and admin with home-schooling three children, and I was trapped in Pembrokeshire in the deep grief of having just lost two close family members. Something about the stillness of lockdown gave me the space to grieve though, and also, fortunately Pembrokeshire is as rich, as this world can be in these days, with bird life.
Bullfinches came to my back door, harriers flew over the land, the sea birds kept the world turning in their migration and movement, songthrush and dunnock enriched the air with song. A solitary whooper swan came to one of the irrigation ponds. Cuckoos came and went and I became even more alert to the shape and the language of birds. Where ever I am their form snags my eye. I learned so much while working on this book, but also know I have so much more to learn.
And all the while friends, including Rosamund and John Macfarlane shared images of birds in flight with me who they had photographed, helping me to see that incredible wonder that is the flight of birds, held in the world’s winds with muscle and bone and feather.
So much work, so many paintings. 49 birds and then the seven wonders, and almost up to the last I had little idea of how to illustrate these beautiful passages of writing from Robert. They flew steadily but surely into my inbox. Rob and I were in almost constant contact by email. He would say which bird he was working on, or which wonder and ask me to send him any thoughts, connections, observations about each creature or wonder and then back would come this piece of writing that flowed through the eyes and into the heart.
I would say now that painting the birds was easy, once I had found ‘the way’. But that would not be true. Easy now, because it is done. And as I finished the first time ( I think I may have finished this book seven times) an idea occurred that saw me emailing our brilliant team at Hamish Hamilton to say, ‘I have had an idea but it means I have to do another 49 paintings. It won’t take long, I promise’, and so I painted the 49 eggs of each bird, which seemed essential, even though the idea was so late…..But the wonders, well. I had painted beak, and the paintings were good, strong, but somehow, in the rhythm of the book, and as a response to the ‘wonder’, they just seemed too prosaic. I’m not sure I can explain how I arrived at the solution, but it grew from a painting I did for beak, using shell gold, and morphed into honouring the wonders using shell gold on claybord.
Claybord is a smooth surface. Each of the title spreads of each bird is worked on claybord. It’s not something I had used before and was a challenge, but I love the way the light falls on it, how the liquid of watercolour sits on its surface and how somehow it seemed to help the brush create the feathers of each bird and their hollow boned lightness.
But getting back to shell gold, it is called this because once the pigment was held in shallow shells, like mussel or clam. Made from finely ground gold, often from jewellers scraps, mixed and bound with gum arabic, it stated that it could ‘be used like watercolour’. Mostly it is used sparingly, to add detail or touch up gilding. Mine came from Cornelissen, Japanese shell gold. Just beautiful to use, and I hope it gives a breathing space to the eye between the colour of the birds, and sings to the poetry held in Rob’s writing, to the awe, to the wonder. To me it seemed so right a solution and I loved finding the way, this way, for now.
It is a most unusual way to work on a book of pictures, for everything to be done, finished, before bringing in the designer. It is an act of faith and trust. I had hoped that we could work again with Alison, who made The Lost Words sing, and The Lost Spells, as well as The Unwinding and Feather, Leaf, Bark & Stone and so many of my books. This could not be. But through Unbound we had discovered Daniel Streat of Visual Fields. Over the past few months Dan and I have worked closely together and he has brought such a strength of design and vision to the book. ( Dan is also the designer for Wild Folk and will be working with the Spellsongs team also to make more magic happen around the music that has flown out from the words and images in the Book of Birds.)
After seven years there is so much to say about the making of the book. From sitting in my studio, wrapped in thought, to working with pigment to create a celebration of the birds, and now to seeing the book migrating and flocking.
There will be a US edition ( Norton), a Canadian (Anansi), a Dutch edition, German and I think also Swedish and Chinese. The American edition has its own jacket, designed by Chin-Yee Lai, and I love its maybe subconscious nod to my Robin Hobb covers. It sings to the wonder of birds I think and celebrates the flight of the birds.
Two things happened as Rob and I both completed our work on this book. Rob took himself to the river, to wash away the work of years. In the midst of the flow of the river a kingfisher flashed low over the water, almost skimming his shoulder, a blessing in a way, from the wild world. As I finished the last markings of paper for the book, I took my head and heart to the top of the hill. I had learned to listen, as our ancestors did , to the voices of birds, so heard the swallows, angry overhead and looked up to see a sparrowhawk, pursued by a flock of swallows. In that moment time stood still and I saw the barred chest, the deep orange eye of a mature bird, claw, feather, ferocity, frozen. So close I could have reached up an arm to touch the talons of her feet. Then the world turned and time moved on, but this to felt like the wildest message from the wild gods. Hunted and hunter, both beautiful. Wild blessing.
There is so much more to say about the making of this book. A long wait still until publication, but Rob and I are blessed with an amazing team at Hamish Hamilton, in both editorial and sales, and the sales team will really champion independent bookshops for selling. I will be doing events with both Seven Fables and Solva Woollen Mill, and the book should be available from all high street bookshops, and hopefully through libraries also. For now here is a link to a link tree for pre-orders, and I will be working with Solva Woollen Mill and Seven Fables.
Towards the close of work on this book two more good friends died. Lyndon Lomax was a photographer and passionate bird man, as was Ian Bullock. Lyndon sent me so many images of birds in flight he had captured with his camera, and Ian loaned me skulls to paint. ( Ian also drew, painted, and knew the shape of a bird far better than I. His drawings and paintings will be part of an exhibition at Oriel Y Parc in January.)
So, for now, both Rob and I have done the best that we can, and our hope is that this book might bring birds to the attention of those who don’t see them, and sing to the hearts of those who do. Where ever you are, take some time to look to the skies.
Wonderful and full of wonder…
I am so looking forward to this book. I love your work and saw you with Spell Songs in Gateshead earlier this year.
Hoping we will be back in September with new music of teh birds.
Can’t wait to hold this book!
Will it be widely available?
Is pre order possible?
There are links to pre-order in the text. Solva Woollen Mill and Seven Fables both have links on their sites. So looking forward to it really taking flight.
Thank you for the insight into where The Book of Birds is currently up to. The whole narrative around the creation of your work is fascinating. The creation process feels very much an integral part of the end piece. It both sounds and looks to be an exquisite venture. Fingers crossed my annual trip to Pembrokeshire coincides with your launch events. I very much enjoyed hearing you and Tamsin talk in Kirby Lonsdale recently about Wild Folk. Which reminds me, I have a black fox stitched and ready to send.
Brilliant. You can send either to me, or to Seven Fables in Dulverton.
What a beautiful thing to look forward to, next year.
Lovely, I will request a copy from Solva woollen mill and ask you to wander your pen over it!
So looking forward to this , Jackie
Hope I can attend at least one of the launch events
Sarah x
Another thing of great beauty, Jackie. I can’t wait.
So lovely! When might we see the Spell Songs musical magic that will complement the book?
Folk by the Oak in July and September in theatres. They are recording now. This minute.
All ordered! Simply cannot wait for another one of your beautiful books. Very intrigued about the dawn launch event, keeping everything crossed that I can make that
I can barely breathe, after reading this amazing, evocatively lovely, journal entry you so kindly share. Perhaps, I am nearly breathless because I may have held my breath all the way through.
I am so grateful to be in a world with you, Ms. Jackie, and the equally wonder-full, Mr. Robert Macfarlane. Thank you for helping to animae mundi colendae gratia, uplifting the soul of the world, as the wind of spirit beneath our wings.
Most sincerely, with much love, appreciation, thank-yous, gratitude,
Dawn Guidry Montz
Thank you x
I’m a volunteer watercolour art teacher for Newcomers & Visiting Scholars at the University of Cambridge; we have enjoyed The Lost Words and The Lost Spells. Today, The Book of Birds comes out, and I can’t wait to bring it in to show everyone! Thank you for making the magic of our birds irresistable. We’re inspired to paint and are noticing more of the natural world around us, which brings great joy!