Review: World of Wonders

5/5 stars

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments, by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (2020), Illustrator: Fumi Nakamura

This is a beautiful debut of nonfiction essays about nature, how the author relates to the world around her, and how and what animals and plants can teach us. The essays include very cool facts about animals and plants, side by side with anecdotes about the author's past - where she grew up, the many different places she lived subsequently, and her relationships with her husband and children. The book really highlights nature in an inspiring way, encouraging the reader to stop, breathe, listen, and look around... to learn from the natural world.

There is a lot of humor - great descriptions of, for instance, the dancing frogs of India, and the putrid smelling corpse flower that blooms every 5 years. There is magic - like the mystery of the luminescence of a firefly. And there is a healthy sprinkling of hope.

These stories are paired with whimsical, cute illustrations that perfectly compliment the author's ability to turn what might seem mundane into intelligent, fierce, funny, strange, admirable animals.

Each essay is relatively short, and this is definitely the kind of book you could pick up any time, and start at any chapter.

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UP NEXT: Things Don't Break on Their Own, by Sarah Easter Collins