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Searching for Sunshine: Finding Connections with Plants, Parks, and the People Who Love Them
An illustrated, heartfelt journey into answering the simple but vital question, "Why do plants and green spaces make us happy?"
When Ishita Jain relocated to the visually overwhelming and concrete-filled New York City from New Delhi, India, she found solace in parks and gardens and started thinking about how important these places are to city residents' sense of peace. In Searching for Sunshine, Jain follows her curiosity and creativity to provide a vibrant compilation of essays, illustrations, and interviews centered around the simple yet compelling theme of why and how plants and green spaces create such meaning for us.
Whether living in a setting that is urban, rural, or somewhere in between, everyone can find enjoyment in the beautiful illustrations and stories gathered here. Featuring conversations with experts and plant-lovers alike, including scientists at the New York Botanical Gardens, groundskeepers at the famed Green-Wood Cemetery, shoppers at the beloved Union Square Greenmarket, a director of NYC Parklands, a florist, and more, Jain's exploration of plants and parks in New York City demonstrates how nature is vital to all experiences of our lives.
When Ishita Jain relocated to the visually overwhelming and concrete-filled New York City from New Delhi, India, she found solace in parks and gardens and started thinking about how important these places are to city residents' sense of peace. In Searching for Sunshine, Jain follows her curiosity and creativity to provide a vibrant compilation of essays, illustrations, and interviews centered around the simple yet compelling theme of why and how plants and green spaces create such meaning for us.
Whether living in a setting that is urban, rural, or somewhere in between, everyone can find enjoyment in the beautiful illustrations and stories gathered here. Featuring conversations with experts and plant-lovers alike, including scientists at the New York Botanical Gardens, groundskeepers at the famed Green-Wood Cemetery, shoppers at the beloved Union Square Greenmarket, a director of NYC Parklands, a florist, and more, Jain's exploration of plants and parks in New York City demonstrates how nature is vital to all experiences of our lives.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published April 11, 2023
3 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 16, 2022
Just get this book when it comes out in April 2023. And tell me one thing I wouldn’t like…. No, no, no. One thing I would not love about this book.
I can tell you for sure there won’t be one. Cos just look at the cover!!!! And the content!!!! Who does that perfect little things for such a tiny short book???
Damn. I got too emotional seeing the illustrations and the tiny, little lines. And I am all motivated to make the earth more green and empower more people to actually work towards more plants 🪴
Seeing and reading about the places mentioned and the people you are meeting in this colourful book will surely shake your heart to do something!
Thank you, Chronicle Books, for the advance reading copy.
I can tell you for sure there won’t be one. Cos just look at the cover!!!! And the content!!!! Who does that perfect little things for such a tiny short book???
Damn. I got too emotional seeing the illustrations and the tiny, little lines. And I am all motivated to make the earth more green and empower more people to actually work towards more plants 🪴
Seeing and reading about the places mentioned and the people you are meeting in this colourful book will surely shake your heart to do something!
Thank you, Chronicle Books, for the advance reading copy.
April 13, 2023
In the last chapter of Douglas Adams' Last Chance to See, he grapples with what conservationism truly means, writing:
I read this book immediately prior to checking out Ishita Jain's brilliant Searching for Sunshine, and it was this poignant conclusion that I could not get out of my head while reading.
Jain converses with a number of folk whose careers and hobbies revolve around plants. It is in these dialogues, immersively reported from the perspective of the interviewees, that question posed by Douglas Adams reverberates time and time again. Does it matter? The answer here is a resounding yes, of course it does. Plants are so obviously crucial to our enjoyment of nature, but in a world of charismatic megafauna and stark landscapes, they are often overlooked and underappreciated. This book is about changing that and giving plants and our experience with them center stage. Thoughtful and reflective throughout, it wholeheartedly succeeds in doing so.
Here is where I reveal the twist -- this thoughtfulness isn't the star of the book. Jain's beautiful illustrations (I mean, just look at the cover -- it's gorgeous) not only deepen the atmosphere, they steal the show. There's not much more I can add to that, other than to say the illustrations are the star here, and that is not a slight to the rest of it, which is stellar. With illustrations on every page to reduce the word count, one could read the book relatively quickly -- but I frequently found myself not only re-reading passages, but getting lost in the illustrations and exploring every detail; they're so beautifully rendered it's hard not to.
So yes, Mr. Adams, it does matter to the rest of us. And this book is proof.
Does it actually matter very much to anyone other than a bunch of obsessed naturalists that the eight bottle palm trees on Round Island are the only ones to be found in the wild anywhere in the world? ...
There is no "tropical island paradise" I know of that remotely matches up to the fantasy ideal that such a phrase is meant to conjure up, or even to what we find described in holiday brochures. It's natural to put this down to the discrepancy we are all used to finding between what advertisers promise and what the real world delivers. It doesn't surprise us much anymore.
So it can come as a shock to realize that the world we hear described by travelers of previous centuries (or even previous decades) and biologists of today really did exist. The state it's in now is only the result of what we've done to it, and the mildness of the disappointment we feel...is only a measure of...how little we understand what we've lost. The people who do understand what we've lost are the ones who are rushing around in a frenzy try to save the bits that are left.
I read this book immediately prior to checking out Ishita Jain's brilliant Searching for Sunshine, and it was this poignant conclusion that I could not get out of my head while reading.
Jain converses with a number of folk whose careers and hobbies revolve around plants. It is in these dialogues, immersively reported from the perspective of the interviewees, that question posed by Douglas Adams reverberates time and time again. Does it matter? The answer here is a resounding yes, of course it does. Plants are so obviously crucial to our enjoyment of nature, but in a world of charismatic megafauna and stark landscapes, they are often overlooked and underappreciated. This book is about changing that and giving plants and our experience with them center stage. Thoughtful and reflective throughout, it wholeheartedly succeeds in doing so.
Here is where I reveal the twist -- this thoughtfulness isn't the star of the book. Jain's beautiful illustrations (I mean, just look at the cover -- it's gorgeous) not only deepen the atmosphere, they steal the show. There's not much more I can add to that, other than to say the illustrations are the star here, and that is not a slight to the rest of it, which is stellar. With illustrations on every page to reduce the word count, one could read the book relatively quickly -- but I frequently found myself not only re-reading passages, but getting lost in the illustrations and exploring every detail; they're so beautifully rendered it's hard not to.
So yes, Mr. Adams, it does matter to the rest of us. And this book is proof.
November 27, 2022
This is a lovely little book about the value of plants and green spaces. The author and illustrator interviewed myriad people who all interact with plants and natural places in and around NYC. Through the interviews, you learn about a variety of different careers and how plants and nature are important to each person. The author includes a portrait of the interviewee and illustrations of the place or the things they work with. Jain is a talented artist and the illustrations enhance each section. A quick read, but a thoughtful and joyful book about the joys of nature even in a city. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for my honest opinions.
June 12, 2024
Il faut déguster chaque passage. Le choix des mots, des sujets, des collaboratrices/collaborateurs et des dessins et sublime.
April 27, 2023
Such a delightful book. Gorgeously illustrated with meaningful stories.
June 29, 2023
LOVELY book! beautiful illustrations that spill over the pages. wide ranging interviews with all sorts of people connected to plants in myriad ways. the joy of being in a place, looking, drawing, thinking about being in nature. inspiration for my nature journal!
April 30, 2023
This lovely title will be enjoyed by many but, perhaps most especially, by those who live in New York City. The author moved to New York from India and missed that essential sense of the outdoors. How it was found again is in these pages.
As the title notes connections are made with plants, parks and the people who love them. Thus, there are conversations with those who know the Union Square Market, the New York Botanical Garden and a host of other locations.
Enjoy this one for its content. Stay, too, for the glorious illustrations.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for this title. All opinions are my own.
As the title notes connections are made with plants, parks and the people who love them. Thus, there are conversations with those who know the Union Square Market, the New York Botanical Garden and a host of other locations.
Enjoy this one for its content. Stay, too, for the glorious illustrations.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for this title. All opinions are my own.
May 20, 2023
One third book about nature, one third collective biography, one third dissertation, this is a piece of "visual journalism" concerning NYC's garden people – the folks that manage, study and have their science inspired by the public gardens, parks and other green spaces throughout New York. Here are the recounts of the days' activities, the guys who know the bird hot spots come migration season, here is a tree at a hella wonky angle. Very much preaching to the converted, and perhaps not bound to travel far beyond the relevant state, unless this really is your field, this is a success, but quite a niche one all told, however much we all love the outdoors when we have time for it.
July 29, 2023
Please seek out diverse reviews.
This is a neat look at nature in NYC, a diverse set of interviewees share why and how they are close to nature in a city. Also a bit of a memoir into the author’s life and relationship with nature. The art woven into the story really added a lovely element that told a story all its own.
Recommend if you’re into nature, especially if you love art and essays.
This is a neat look at nature in NYC, a diverse set of interviewees share why and how they are close to nature in a city. Also a bit of a memoir into the author’s life and relationship with nature. The art woven into the story really added a lovely element that told a story all its own.
Recommend if you’re into nature, especially if you love art and essays.
May 21, 2023
This was a big impulse purchase on Independent Bookstore Day at House of Books, and I am so not sorry! I love everything about this book, from its lush illustrations to its philosophy of life and beauty.
May 19, 2025
I especially enjoyed all her illustrations with watercolor along with the info about green spaces in New York City.
April 10, 2024
I enjoyed this book a lot. Beautiful pictures, interesting interviews with people who work in jobs focused on nature (many I didn't know were jobs!) and it inspires you to become more intune with nature!
April 14, 2023
This book is a visual delight.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews