This book is not meant to be read from cover to cover. It is a book for dreamers. Slight of word, rich of image, its purpose is to ease the soul.

The paintings between these covers were worked in the between times, an unwinding of the soul, when the pressures of work were too much. Dreams and wishes are the inspiration at times like this. Threaded through the curious world of The Unwinding are words, slight and lyrical. Their aim is to set the reader s mind adrift from the troubles of our times, into peaceful harbours where imagination can stretch, 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 frantic and complex world.

Jackie Morris is an artist, writer and painter. She lives and works in Wales and her work is informed and inspired by wild places and creatures. Her books include The Lost Words, co-created with Robert Macfarlane and recipient of The Greenaway Award for illustration, The Lost Spells, also with Macfarlane and How The Whale Became written by Ted Hughes.