After revisions to the Oxford Junior Dictionary, a widely used children’s dictionary, led to the removal of such nature words as “acorn,” “bluebell” and “otter” in favor of such technology-centric ...

This children's book is a tribute to the beauty of the natural world. Several years ago, I learned the Oxford Junior Dictionary had decided to remove over 100 natural words from its pages — common ...

Dictionaries are editing out words that authors use in books to describe the natural world, bibliophiles and green warriors ...

Once upon a time, the English language was full of stories with “blossoms,” “rivers,” and “moss.” But these words are disappearing from our vocabularies — and along with them, our connection to the ...

When I pulled out a copy of "The Lost Words," my seven-year-old son stared in amazement. The book is huge, nearly as tall as his torso, and when I opened it up, it spread across both of our laps. He ...

Through the years I have attempted to describe the flora of the Smokies region for newspaper, magazine and book readers. I have learned that describing the “botanical architecture” of trees, flowers, ...

April is Earth Month, marking the annual Earth Day on April 22. There's no better way to honor this occasion than by immersing oneself in nature. If you've ever inhaled the refreshing scent of the ...

The loss of so many beetles, birds, and bacteria is desperately sad. But it’s far from the full extent of our loss. A new study analyzing how many terms authors use for the natural world shows that ...

Word learning in children represents a fundamental aspect of cognitive development and language acquisition. This area of research explores how young learners overcome the ambiguous nature of their ...

Sometimes even your happy place can’t turn a frown upside down. Stacie Dosmann is usually happiest anywhere outside, like the scenic area in Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest where her family visited ...