"The Keeper of Wild Words"

This past week, The Dewey School was gifted the most beautiful book! It is one, that had we been together, we would have gathered right away to share it because the message is THAT important. It is sure to be a favorite "go to" in the years to come...as we are THE keepers of wild words.

"When the wild wraps around you, it stays forever in your heart." I hope this poignant last sentence of the book by Brook Smith resonates through our senses at The Dewey School.

Did you know that the Oxford Junior Dictionary has removed over 100 natural words from its pages? Words like: acorn, apricot, beaver, dandelion, doe, fern, lavender, minnow, mint, monarch, poppy, and other landscape and country words. Many of those are words that we use consistently as we connect and explore the world around us. They were replaced with words like "violence, conflict, chatroom, and database."

Smith says, "Words disappear if we don't share them when we talk. If we don't write them in our stories. If we don't read them in our books. If we don't use words, they can be forgotten. And if they're forgotten...they disappear." The only way to save words is to know them. May we work hard to know the wild words.

An incredible book! Thank you so much. I can't wait to share it with our Dewey School friends.