From the Incredibly Good News Department: TRACKING TRASH was included on the 2007 John Burroughs List of Nature Books for Young Readers. Here is a blurb about the List from the John Burroughs Association website:
“The John Burroughs List of Nature Books for Young Readers, recognizing outstanding natural history books for children that contain perceptive and artistic accounts of direct experiences in the world of nature, was established in 1988 to recognize Burroughs’ efforts to awaken interest in young naturalists. Each year, the results of the competition are formally recognized at the John Burroughs Association’s award ceremony, held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.”
And so I will travel to NYC on Monday (gulp!) and have lunch with the John Burroughs Association and with the other authors being honored this year. In preparation, I’ve been reading their amazing books …
IT’S A BUTTERFLY’S LIFE
Written and illustrated by Irene Kelly
Holiday House, 2007
This picture book about the life of a butterfly includes every twist and turn, all outlined in a gentle style that intrigues and never overwhelms. I’m looking forward to reading the companion, IT’S A HUMMINGBIRD’S LIFE.
BEING CARIBOU
by Karsten Heuer
Walker & Company, 2007
This book is just lovely. The author and his wife, filmmaker Leanne Allison, spent five months migrating hundreds of miles with a herd of caribou. Their hard-earned insights into the hardship and the beauty of an epic migration are unforgettable. Do spend a moment, if you can, at Heuer’s website to learn about his Necessary Journeys. Absolutely inspiring stuff.
WHERE IN THE WILD?
Written by David M. Schwartz and Yael Schy
Illustrated with photographs by Dwight Kuhn
Tricycle Press, 2007
This book of poems is illustrated with startling images of creatures camouflaged in the wild. The poems provide clues to the creature hidden in each photograph, and a lift-the-flap format provides answers for those animals that are too hard to find. Very nicely done!
I also spent some time with BIRCH BROWSINGS, A John Burroughs Reader (Penguin, 1992), because—I am not sure I should admit this—I was not familiar with John Burroughs’s work. They essay that caught my eye first is called “An Idyl of the Honey-Bee”. It was a joy; I am honored to be part of a booklist that pays homage to this man, and I’m looking forward to more essays during the train ride on Monday.