This is one of those books that worms its way into your heart. On the one hand, it covers a lifetime, and things seem to move slowly and inevitably toThis is one of those books that worms its way into your heart. On the one hand, it covers a lifetime, and things seem to move slowly and inevitably to the end of the world as you know it. And yet--it gives you hope that no matter what we as humans do to screw things up, nature will find a way. The story follows the life of Wanda, a girl born in the middle of a hurricane in Florida, where each hurricane seems to be worse than the last one and each hurricane season seems to last longer every year. The story takes place in the near future and is a little bit of realistic fiction, science fiction, magical realism, and dystopian. It is filled with loss, pain, and guilt, but balanced with love, found family, and hope. There is much to reflect on as you read this novel and would be the perfect book for a book club. I think it would also be perfect for an AP Environmental Science class (maybe summer reading?). I highly recommend this book and can't wait to discuss this with my book club!...more
What a cute book! As a math and science educator, I really enjoyed and appreciated this book. Lilo is the main character in this s4.5 stars rounded up
What a cute book! As a math and science educator, I really enjoyed and appreciated this book. Lilo is the main character in this story, and he discovers at the beginning of the book that instead of spending his summer with his grandparents, his family is going to be going on a month-long visit to the rainforest. He realizes pretty quickly that he needs to figure out a way to water his plants while they are gone, so he tries to invent a self-watering system for his plants.
As a whole, this story is about the process of inventing, and learning that you usually don't succeed the first time you try, but instead, you learn from the failures and step by step, you make progress until you succeed. However, what I particularly loved about this story was that Lilo didn't automatically know that, and that it took the encouragement and discussions with his family members and his friends to learn this lesson. I also like that his grandpa was a tinkerer, but he never tried solving Lilo's challenge for him. Instead, he asked him questions, encouraged his questions, and let Lilo experiment on his own.
The illustrations are really cute, and each step has a take-home message in bold in the text of the story, as well as highlighted in a banner at the bottom right of each page. They are also color coded with a green or blue bead depending on whether the lesson is a life lesson (green) or a science lesson (blue). At the end is an illustration with scenes from the book in green or blue circles and a reminder of each lesson, as well as reflection questions. These questions are good for children and adults alike.
This could be a great book for a teacher or parent to read to a young child, but it could also be used in elementary school for early readers. This would also be great for homeschooling. There's a website where you can request worksheet guides and activities.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the author and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. ...more
5 stars! If I could give it more, I would. I am a math and science tutor that works with students of all ages, and although the majority of them are p5 stars! If I could give it more, I would. I am a math and science tutor that works with students of all ages, and although the majority of them are past the age of this book, I would still recommend the book to them, especially if they have younger siblings. This book hits all the right buttons for me. The author does a great job of interspersing numbers with scientific facts, and even though I knew many of the facts in this book, I still learned some things. There is a simple story that parents can begin with, and that is Pebbles journey to find the biggest number. Most of this story takes place on the left side of each page, and interspersed throughout are fun facts that pertain to where Pebbles is at the moment. I love that the story can grow with the child and their curiosity. I also love that for every number, the author includes the units of measurement we use in the states, but then also includes in parentheses the metric unit. This introduces young children to the metric system much earlier (which is always great in my book!).
At the end, the author includes an illustrated glossary of scientific words, as well as a list of the numbers Pebbles encountered on his journey with grains of sand being used to give kids an idea of the difference between the numbers.
I love the different animals he meets on his journey (as well as the human scientists in Antarctica) and the different ecosystems that he visits. The illustrations are beautiful and full of color and every page made me smile. This story is a wonderful collaboration between the artist and the author. I highly recommend this book to any classroom and children’s library (both at home and at the public library). The author was kind enough to send me a copy to review (which in no way influenced my review), and I will be passing it along to my older daughter, who is studying to be an elementary school teacher. This will be her first book in her class library—she was so excited when I showed the book to her!
This was truly a gem and I’m so glad I came across this book!...more
I would rate this somewhere between 4 and 4.5 stars. There is much I loved about this book, which contained just enough science to satisfy my inner geI would rate this somewhere between 4 and 4.5 stars. There is much I loved about this book, which contained just enough science to satisfy my inner geek and enough humanity to satisfy my empathetic heart. I was not familiar with Suzanne Simard's name, though I had heard of the Wood Wide Web in context with other media, including Richard Power's The Overstory and the movie Avatar. I have also recently read The Underland by Robert MacFarlane who devotes at least one section of his book to this underground communication network. But while Suzanne Simard may not have been the first person to conceptualize such a thing (she references other authors and also the aboriginal peoples), she was the woman who fought to make these ideas more widely known, especially amongst the policymakers who made it possible to destroy wide swaths of the forest ecosystem to make way for tree farms, refusing to admit their policies might not be the best way to do things.
I ended up devouring this book in a day and a half and while there were some things that made me concerned (namely the haphazard way she sometimes approached potentially dangerous things), overall, I appreciated her passion to fight for these ecosystems. I listened to this book while reading along, and while she might not be the most natural narrator (she talks about how bad she is at public speaking), she speaks from the heart and her Canadian accent reminded me often of where she comes from and that's a good thing.
She mentions the aboriginal people several times, and my sense is that she believes their ancient wisdom agrees with what she has discovered over the years of her scientific experiments, and she seems to imply that if the colonialists hadn't come in and slaughtered not just the people, but also their land, they would have understood much sooner than we did, why it is so important to listen to the land and understand the forest ecosystem as a whole rather than in our arrogance, think we know better. After reading the entire book, I think this is the implication, but I think I would have appreciated her spelling it out more literally.
One of the things I appreciated about the book was how she shared about her family and their history with logging and how she compared what they did (only taking what they needed and leaving nature to fill the holes) vs what the logging companies were doing (clear-cutting and weeding out "less desirables" to make room for the prized trees). But more importantly, as the story developed, I loved how she took what she was learning from the tree community and applied it to what was happening in her own life and that she took it to mean she needed to strengthen her ties with her daughters and the rest of her family. While her marriage with her husband didn't survive her years of research that drove them apart, it sounds like they remained friends once they realized that they should no longer be together, and they were both happier for it. Even not being married, they were still part of their own community of family and friends, and their community was stronger for it.
Overall, I really enjoyed this read and I've already recommended it to several people....more
I don’t know much about the author, but he is a great narrator and I really enjoyed listening to this book on my loPerfect listen for my long car trip
I don’t know much about the author, but he is a great narrator and I really enjoyed listening to this book on my long car trip. It was like listening to a nature show and while I knew some of what he talked about, most of it was new to me. I have not heard of the concept of “umwelt” but I found it fascinating learning about it. It’s not even so much about us imagining our consciousness in the body of another creature, but about understanding how the bodies and senses are so different from our own that there are many things we can’t even conceive of. I loved hearing about the experiments conducted by scientists in an attempt to make some sense of what has been observed about the animals.
The book is loosely divided up into chapters focused around different senses (but not just 5), but he also spends time helping us to understand the ways we have negatively affected the natural world with not just air pollution, but also light pollution, sound pollution, etc. Because different creatures perceive the world in different ways, and they have evolved to survive predators, and eat, sleep, hunt, mate, and reproduce that is within their niche, our actions have impacted this in profound ways. For example, it never occurred to me, but light pollution causes moths to congregate where they become easy prey for bats (some of whom have evolved in ways that they know moths can be found in those places), or they become exhausted because they are seeing the light as something else. The whole section on light pollution made me realize that there are things we could do to help mitigate that and help us recover the night sky, like maybe replace the bright white lights with red light.
Overall, I found this to be a great read/listen (I also downloaded the book so that I could look at all the amazing illustrations). I’ve already recommended this to several people in the time that I’ve been reading it. Highly recommended....more
Motivational books are hit or miss for me (and this really is a motivational book), but this one mostly worked for me. He's a good writer and speaker Motivational books are hit or miss for me (and this really is a motivational book), but this one mostly worked for me. He's a good writer and speaker and students who have him as a professor are fortunate. My takeaway from this book is that keeping your mind open to other points of view will often lead to growth (growth mindset), which is not a new concept, but he did a good job of giving examples of how this can help. I really liked his section on motivational interviewing and have put that on my list of things to look more into. I work with students from all walks of life, so I think this is a technique that could really help me. I also liked the section about NASA and the achievement mindset they had rather than a growth mindset and how the latter is now more of the norm. I think this is a book that I could listen to again, and probably pick up other tidbits along the way.
My main criticism of the book has to do with science. He talks a lot about implementing the science to get to the real truth of what's going on, rather than just believing something because of "what you've heard" and that's great. But I'm not sure how much science has gone into what he's talking about. Did he do an experiment with control groups? It's all a bit handwavy to me. It sounds great and honestly, I can imagine implementing some of the suggestions he's made here but is it all based on science? If he wasn't claiming science as much as it seemed, then I wouldn't worry so much about this. But since he brings it up, it did get me wondering and thinking.
Still, I enjoyed this listen very much and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to folks looking for some motivation to develop a growth mindset....more
This was a fascinating book about the deepest parts of the earth, focusing mostly on science, but touching on the myths and other 3.5 stars rounded up
This was a fascinating book about the deepest parts of the earth, focusing mostly on science, but touching on the myths and other stories that exist about these places. I really enjoyed this a lot, but I found I had to focus to follow the science. There were times when I just had to pause and listen to something else because this required more of my attention than I was able to give it. That said, there were portions of it that had me hanging on the edge of my seat. For example, I loved the section on fungi and the connection between them in the trees. It was so cool to think of forests as one giant organism rather than as individuals. It made me think of the forest as a multcelled organism and all the trees, plants, fungi, insects, etc., as organelles, working together to strengthen the entire organism. It also made me think about how we have destroyed many of those systems in ignorance.
The section on cave divers made me think about the connection between divers and mountain climbers, extreme on both ends of the earth. Some of the stories were so sad in terms of what happened to the explorers although the author also did a great job of letting us see that they went on their own terms and they wouldn't have had it any other way.
Near the end, when he talks about the places where nuclear wastes are buried, I found it very interesting how they dealt with the wastes and shortly after I read that section, I was having lunch with some friends at church and we started talking about nuclear wastes and alternatives in terms of what they do with them and how they may be able to reused (Canada is using unrefined nuclear material in mini power plants so that they can be reused). In any case, it was rather timely in terms of when I read this and when we had the discussion.
I think this is definitely a book where you could read or reread a chapter here and there. The chapters are extremely long, but the sections are short, so you can definitely read them in bite-sized pieces. If you enjoy learning about the earth, this is definitely a good read and I can highly recommend it. But it definitely requires more of your attention so that if you're looking for a casual read, you might want to put this one off. Regardless, I'm really glad I read this!...more
This took me a couple of months to read, not because it wasn't good, but because nonfiction always takes me longer to read, especially if I'm3.5 stars
This took me a couple of months to read, not because it wasn't good, but because nonfiction always takes me longer to read, especially if I'm reading it without the audio. But the other reason this book took me so long is that as I read references to the many Agatha Christie novels mentioned in this book, I had to take the time to look it up and see what I remembered about the book. I have read the majority of her works, but I read most of them when I was in middle school/high school, so it's been a long time. It's only been in the past few years that I've started going back and rereading the books, starting with my favorites and then jumping around depending on how I am feeling.
What fascinated me about this book was that it charts Christie's progression through her knowledge of forensics while forensics was making strides in the real world. This is evident in her books, but of course, I've never read her books with that in mind. It definitely makes me want to go back and reread her books in the order of publication, just so I can watch her use of forensics change over time, as mentioned by the author. I definitely made myself a list of which books I want to read. A few of the prominently mentioned ones I've read this past year and it was really cool to know what the author was talking about when she referenced certain things. When you approach a Christie novel with the forensics prominently in mind, certain scenes start to take on more significance.
I also didn't know Christie was so knowledgeable about poisons because of her work as a nurse and dispenser during both World Wars. It makes a lot of sense and I found that chapter to be particularly fascinating, as well as disturbing! I also really liked the chapter on Blood Spatter.
Christie wrote a ton of novels, so I don't know if I have it in me to start all over from the beginning, but I've always loved her novels, so that may end up being a fun thing to do. It may take me several years, but a bibliophile has to have long-term goals, right?
I think if you are a mystery buff, and especially if you are a fan of Agatha Christie, you will likely find this interesting. The author herself is an Anatomical Pathology Technologist, and I found her website/blog to be pretty unique. She is definitely qualified to write such a book as this, and I found her insights to make a lot of sense. She has a unique relationship with the dead and I will probably read her first book, which is largely autobiographical (I think)....more
I am a math and science tutor and I have always loved math. So I looked forward to this book with great anticipation. It was obvious to me that this aI am a math and science tutor and I have always loved math. So I looked forward to this book with great anticipation. It was obvious to me that this author shares a similar love and I really enjoyed listening to him talk about different concepts from the various branches of mathematics. However, I think I would have enjoyed it even more if I had been able to follow along with a written version because as much as I love and can do the math, I am very much a visual learner and I need to see the equations in order to follow them. Some of what he talked about were very familiar to me, so even though I didn't have the equations in front of me I was able to jot down notes and follow his reasoning very easily. In others, especially the chapters on calculus and series, I needed to pause and jot things down and go back and relisten to what he was saying to make sure I was following everything correctly. Despite these shortcomings, I don't regret purchasing this audiobook (it was one of the deals of the day) and I wouldn't mind listening to it again, this time following along with the written book. I am definitely part of the target audience, so I am a bit biased. Even if you're not a math expert, I still think you could get something out if this book, if only to see how mathematics can be part of every day life....more
This was like listening to a documentary in book form. It was a delight to listen to Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams having their discussions about HoThis was like listening to a documentary in book form. It was a delight to listen to Jane Goodall and Douglas Abrams having their discussions about Hope and what it means today and in the future. There are no platitudes, just simple wisdom from a woman living her best life in a troubled world. I knew very little about her life, other than her connection with Leakey and a fair bit about her work with the Chimps, but certainly not much about her personal life. There is so much in this book and I loved every minute of it. Times are definitely uncertain and dark right now and so many are succumbing to depression, anxiety, and suicide (including those close to Abrams); this is a book that is desperately needed. I think this is a book that would definitely bear relistening to. The audiobook is very well done, and as I said, I felt like I was just listening to them having a conversation with each other over a long period of time. Highly recommended....more
Wow. As I sit here listening to the singing of the 17-year cicadas and contemplate this book, I can't help but wish I could meet the author and just sWow. As I sit here listening to the singing of the 17-year cicadas and contemplate this book, I can't help but wish I could meet the author and just spend a little time with her. This was one of the best nonfiction, travel, environmental, adventure, nature books I've read in recent memory. I made my way slowly through this book because I wanted to savor my time with it. Sara has a passion for all of God's creatures, not just the monarch butterflies, but here she shares many of the lessons she learned from them on her journey following their migration path. She is a trained biologist whose specialty is amphibians, and as she says, she didn't even really know much about the monarchs when she made the decision to follow their migratory pathway. She had done a few hardcore bike trips before, including one where she visited 49 of the states by bike (actually it may have been 48, but I think 49 sounded better). But she is an adventurer and a nomad by nature, I think, and she felt called by the butterflies. She began her 10,201 mile trip in Mexico at one of the overwintering sanctuaries for Monarchs and followed the general migration path of the monarchs into the US, up through the center of the country into Canada and back around, but in a more eastern pathway. One thing I did not realize was that the migration was a multi-generation migration where the ones who left the overwintering grounds were not the ones that returned, but rather their progeny. Although she scheduled talks throughout her ride (mostly with schools), her schedule was pretty open so that she could take detours if she wanted or arrange other stops at people's homes, people she met earlier in her trip. She shares many of her frustrations, her challenges, her sadness, her triumphs, and all along the way, she shares the lessons she's learned and her desperation to get the word out so that we as a collective can change things for the better in our environment before it is too late, not just for the monarchs, but for all of us. My garden is currently a huge mess of wildflowers, but most of them were just pretty much planted and left and I know that grapevines are choking a lot of the flowers. We get visitors, but I don't think we have any milkweed. I have been inspired that this fall would perhaps be a good time to clear out some of those grapevines and figure out a way to plant milkweed (native, and untreated with poisons). I highly recommend this book, especially if you're looking for a good non-fiction read if you care about the environment, if you like travel books, or you're just curious about a woman who spent the better part of a year biking the migratory route of the Monarch butterflies in an effort to learn and to get the word out about protecting these beautiful creatures as well as our environment. I loved this book so much that I ordered a signed copy from a nature center that hosted one of her talks.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily....more
Not quite as good as watching the videos, but there were many scenes that I could picture based on his description alone. I really enjoyed these storiNot quite as good as watching the videos, but there were many scenes that I could picture based on his description alone. I really enjoyed these stories and it's great because I don't have time to sit and watch much these days. There are many creatures I would not have known about if it hadn't been for Sir David Attenborough!...more
Okay, seriously? I really enjoyed this one! It's not humorous per se, but it's definitely entertaining. Some of the stuff he talks about I knew beforeOkay, seriously? I really enjoyed this one! It's not humorous per se, but it's definitely entertaining. Some of the stuff he talks about I knew before, some I learned recently, and some I had never heard of. Regardless, I enjoyed listening to all of it! This is something that I think I could definitely get something new out of each time I read or listened. Bill Bryson is also one of those authors who CAN narrate their own work. In any case, this was unlike anything I've been reading or listening to lately, so it was pretty cool in that respect as well. Some of the stuff on virus and bacteria is very relevant as well, lol. Highly recommend this one....more
In some ways, this was perfect as an audiobook. I was riveted by the stories as well as the science and it made me think about the whole natu4.5 stars
In some ways, this was perfect as an audiobook. I was riveted by the stories as well as the science and it made me think about the whole nature vs. nurture not just in the realm of mental illnesses, but also in other afflictions such as autism or sensory issues. The only thing that would have made it better is if I had a blurb in front of me that listed the names of all the kids and which boys were the ones who were hit by the schizophrenia with notes I could add about where they went and such. With 12 children, I could keep track of the two girls, and then the two oldest boys, but after that, I started mixing up which boy was which. A family tree, at the very least, would have helped me keep track. In spite of that, I was drawn in by the author's writing and felt my heart torn as I listened to some of what happened not just to the boys, but to the girls who were essentially neglected, and left to endure trauma both directly from the brothers, and indirectly from being in a house where mental illness had to be kept secret from the outside world). I found it fascinating how the field of treating mental illnesses has grown, and yet remains unchanged in many ways. The stigma associated with mental illness and the willingness of society (and government) to ignore it for the families to deal with alone seems to be a constant in this country. The argument between nature vs nurture was laid out pretty clearly in this book, and that argument seems ongoing. My take is that both play a huge part and that while nature makes some people more susceptible to mental illnesses, the environment can be a trigger, but that includes making sure individuals have all the nutrients they need to give them the best chance at a healthy life. I found the discussion about acetylcholine to be fascinating, especially in prenatal treatment, and I wonder if it's still being recommended for pregnant women who have a history of mental illness in their family.
One other thing I wondered over and over as I listened to this, is how things could have been different for all the kids if the parents had made it known early on that the first son was having mental illness problems--if it hadn't been kept hidden from the rest of the family as well as to their support system. But then I think back to that time and know that they just didn't have the resources and that's a common problem today. Ultimately, if the two girls had not had the support of the wealthy couple, they may not have survived to ask Robert Kolker to write this book. As one of the daughters talks about how this couple's nature-oriented home has helped her own son, she states simply that she and her sister were lucky to have this resource and she wonders just how different things may have turned out if her brothers had had the same resource.
I found the author's writing style to be perfect for this book. While he made us aware of things that the parents did that may have contributed to the trauma of the girls and the struggles of the boys, he also portrayed them with some sympathy. Even the boys, who did some horrific things while in their psychotic breaks, were not excused from their behavior but still handled with empathy. I was completely pulled in by the girls' journeys, both individually and together, but especially about how the youngest came to a place of forgiveness and compassion, not just for her brothers, but also her parents, especially her mother. With the way mental illness is often handled in society, I found this to be refreshing and a must-read for those who don't have much experience or understanding of mental illness.
I highly recommend this audiobook, although it may help to look up the family first and at the very least map out who the children are and which ones were struck down by schizophrenia. ...more
This was not quite what I was expecting--I was expecting more of a scientific treatise on the author's observations of nature. Instead, it wa3.5 stars
This was not quite what I was expecting--I was expecting more of a scientific treatise on the author's observations of nature. Instead, it was a series of vignettes about the author's experiences with love, loss, and nature. There was definitely a lot of beauty in her words and I was completely moved by some passages, but there were others where my attention definitely wandered. This book reminded me a lot of Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, which also struck me in the same way--I loved some of it and wandered in others. I thought the narrator was perfect for this recording and would definitely recommend it for those who enjoy this style of writing....more
I am absolutely stunned and mostly speechless as I sit here contemplating this book. It was absolutely riveting as Kate Moore shares the personal storI am absolutely stunned and mostly speechless as I sit here contemplating this book. It was absolutely riveting as Kate Moore shares the personal stories of these girls from the moment they excitedly started their new jobs to when they started to get sick and tried to figure out what was happening with their bodies to their fight for justice not necessarily for themselves (because they knew it was too late) but for their families and for other Radium girls. I thought this author (and narrator) absolutely did this story justice as I listened in awe about their persistence, grit, bravery, and spirit as they fought for what was right. When you listen to the author's note at the end, you discover that as late as 1978, there was a company that was still behaving in this way with respect to radioactive materials! But given what happened in Flint, MI, I am not surprised, though I am absolutely angry that this kind of crap is still happening. I definitely had to be in the right mood for this book because it was absolutely agonizing to listen to at times and I was bawling at the end for these women. But it was worth it and I'm glad I did so. These women deserve to be remembered and honored for their shining lights, both figuratively and literally. Whew! Amazing....more
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