Rachel Carson: Preserving a Sense of Wonder

by Joseph Bruchac

Winner of Learning magazine’s Teacher’s Choice Award From a small town in Pennsylvania came a little girl who saw the magic in spring fog and heard the ocean’s song in her heart. This was the girl who one day would become the groundbreaking author of Silent Spring . In this engaging biography, now updated, young readers will experience the enchantment of nature as seen through the eyes of the budding naturalist, while learning about her childhood, her accomplishments, and her passion for nature. Combining Thomas Locker’s majestic artwork with Joseph Bruchac’s poetic text, Rachel Carson offers an educational and inspiring account of her life. Includes excerpts from Carson’s work and a timeline of major events. Joseph Bruchac , co-author of The Keepers of the Earth series, is a nationally acclaimed Native American storyteller and writer who has authored more than seventy books of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for adults and children. He lives in upstate New York. Thomas Locker has illustrated more than thirty books, many of which he has written, including Skytree , Walking with Henry , John Muir , and The Story of a River . His books have received many awards, including the Christopher Award, the Knickerbocker Lifetime Achievement Award, the John Burroughs Award, and The New York Times Award for best illustration.

Genres: Picture Books, Nature, Biography, Childrens, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Science

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Joseph Bruchac lives with his wife, Carol, in the Adirondack mountain foothills town of Greenfield Center, New York, in the same house where his maternal grandparents raised him. Much of his writing draws on that land and his Abenaki ancestry. Although his American Indian heritage is only one part of an ethnic background that includes Slovak and English blood, those Native roots are the ones by which he has been most nourished. He, his younger sister Margaret, and his two grown sons, James and Jesse, continue to work extensively in projects involving the preservation of Abenaki culture, language and traditional Native skills, including performing traditional and contemporary Abenaki music with the Dawnland Singers.

He holds a B.A. from Cornell University, an M.A. in Literature and Creative Writing from Syracuse and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the Union Institute of Ohio. His work as a educator includes eight years of directing a college program for Skidmore College inside a maximum security prison. With his wife, Carol, he is the founder and Co-Director of the Greenfield Review Literary Center and The Greenfield Review Press. He has edited a number of highly praised anthologies of contemporary poetry and fiction, including Songs from this Earth on Turtle's Back, Breaking Silence (winner of an American Book Award) and Returning the Gift. His poems, articles and stories have appeared in over 500 publications, from American Poetry Review, Cricket and Aboriginal Voices to National Geographic, Parabola and Smithsonian Magazine. He has authored more than 70 books for adults and children, including The First Strawberries, Keepers of the Earth (co-authored with Michael Caduto), Tell Me a Tale, When the Chenoo Howls (co-authored with his son, James), his autobiography Bowman's Store and such novels as Dawn Land, The Waters Between, Arrow Over the Door and The Heart of a Chief. Forthcoming titles include Squanto's Journey (Harcourt), a picture book, Sacajawea (Harcourt), an historical novel, Crazy Horse's Vision (Lee & Low), a picture book, and Pushing Up The Sky (Dial), a collection of plays for children. His honors include a Rockefeller Humanities fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Writing Fellowship for Poetry, the Cherokee Nation Prose Award, the Knickerbocker Award, the Hope S. Dean Award for Notable Achievement in Children's Literature and both the 1998 Writer of the Year Award and the 1998 Storyteller of the Year Award from the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. In 1999, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers Circle of the Americas.

As a professional teller of the traditional tales of the Adirondacks and the Native peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, Joe Bruchac has performed widely in Europe and throughout the United States from Florida to Hawaii and has been featured at such events as the British Storytelling Festival and the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesboro, Tennessee. He has been a storyteller-in-residence for Native American organizations and schools throughout the continent, including the Institute of Alaska Native Arts and the Onondaga Nation School. He discusses Native culture and his books and does storytelling programs at dozens of elementary and secondary schools each year as a visiting author.

Reviews

[Amanda up North · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful picture book introduction to Rachel Carson.
The paintings are gorgeous, and the simple text had me from page one:
"Once there was a child whose love of nature would one day lead her to write a book that changed our world."
In Rachel Carson I've found my spirit animal in the form of a writer/biologist. She's a kindred spirit and the hero I wish I'd learned about as a child.
All the more reason I'm glad there are books like this for children today.
"..like Rachel, somewhere a child watches and listens and cares for this earth as she keeps her sense of wonder."

[Naturegirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only are the paintings in this book gorgeous, but the story of Rachel Carson is simply stated and beautiful. What a lovely way to introduce children to the woman who changed the minds of millions with regards to the environment. Thomas Locker portrays her in art in such a special way that can only be characterized by his own touch.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely watercolors by Thomas Locker and text by Joseph Bruchac about the famed environmentalist Rachel Carson (Silent Spring), who needs to be part of our consciousness in every generation. This book introduces her to kids. As to biography, it is very sketchy but gives us not too much information. Maybe just enough to pique interest in reading more.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this with my daughter for her Kindergarten science fair project. Beautifully written and illustrated, an effective synopsis of Carson's work that's kid-friendly, yet still impacts readers of all ages.

[Shaeley Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Rachel Carson, marine biologist and author. I especially liked the quotes from her at the end of the book.

[Michelle Stimpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've long admired Rachel Carson and the work she did to help us understand the delicate nature of the planet. This is a beautiful tribute to her by one of my favorite authors, Joseph Bruchac, with gorgeous illustrations by Thomas Locker.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautiful, yet brief, biography on the life of Biologist/Environmentalist Rachel Carson. I wish there had been more about her as a person. The telling is beautiful, yet seems a bit vague. The last page, with a list of her books and some favorite quotes is lovely.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely words accompanied by beautiful illustrations about an inspiring and significant woman in our history who was so in awe of creation that she used her clear and poetic written words to turn many to be better stewards of it.

[Caroline · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring. Reads like a dry encyclopedia paragraph interspersed with vaguely related pictures and a few forced poetic lines.

[Rocky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous art!

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely introduction to Rachel Carson - wonderful words and stunning illustrations. I can’t wait to share it with students, teachers and parents.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely. For any aspiring naturalist

[Pam · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book, both the text and illustrations, is an adult's romantic version of a children's book. It is doubtful that any child would pick up this book on their own and enjoy it without a parent, who is familiar with Rachel Carson, guiding them. What a missed opportunity to present an important woman to younger readers! There were so many opportunities to use illustrations that would have been much more informative, including maps and actual illustrations of the wildlife that Rachel Carson was trying to save. Unfortunately using a famous artist to illustrate the book made that impossible. Including such facts as Carson's birth date, parents, etc. to the text would have elevated this to the type of biography that teachers could actually use as a tool in the classroom. This effort was a great disappointment.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit disappointed in this book. Usually Thomas Locker's Hudson Valley School-style illustrations are breathtaking, and some in this book are. The two different illustrations of the sun over the sea on pages 19 and 21 are gorgeous. Others, though, don't quite seem to express the text, such as the picture on page 7 that shows a sunny field when the text says "spring fog". Joseph Bruchac's text, describing Rachel Carson's life, is spare but describes the basic facts of her life. Just when I was wishing I could hear some of Carson's own words, on the last page Bruchac includes a group of quotes from her writings-- a nice touch.
Recommended as a place to start exploring Rachel Carson and her work.

[Holly Mueller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomas Locker's illustrations are gorgeous. I love his books. The biography itself is sparse, but poetic. I would like to know more about Rachel Carson. There are quotes by her in the back of the book. She was the author of the groundbreaking and controversial environmental book, Silent Spring.

[Katie Rybakova · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting to introduce children (primary grades) to Rachel Carson, and the illustrations are excellent, but I think a little bit more focus on what the books she wrote were about would be necessary. I can see this acting as a nice scaffold though. A good biography text to introduce younger students to.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

To start with, Thomas Locker's illustrations are incomparable. They are museum quality. The story was well done in this case as well. It made me want to read the books that Carson wrote about the ocean.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biography
Picture book about Rachel Carson, who wrote many books and promoted environmentalism.

[Lindsay Evermore]

branford, hamden

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely art, great amount of information without being too overwhelming.

[McKenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book - used to introduce Biographies and "passion" to 3rd Grade.

[Jody Kyburz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful! Can't wait to share it with my students. If it weren't for picture books, I wouldn't get any reading done at all.