I've spent this cold, rainy afternoon curled up with this book, and what a treat. You know the old adage about not judging a book by its cover? Well, while in the more abstract sense that may be true, when we're talking about literal books and their covers, I must confess myself entirely guilty of discovering some of my favorite books entirely based on the cover artwork. It's crossed my mind that I may be incredibly shallow, but so be it. In any event, this book was no exception. I've always taken a fancy to silhouettes, so when I saw this book at the library, I just had to check it out. And I haven't been disappointed at all. This is a children's book, so it's been a quick, easy read, but absolutely brimming with life and joy. Calpurnia Tate is a little girl growing up in Texas. The year is 1899, she is eleven years old, and the only girl in a family of rowdy, rambunctious boys. The story follows Callie through the year as she develops a close relationship with her grandfather, an avid naturalist. It reminds me of my own girlhood exploits "studying" various bugs and animals. Unfortunately, my intense interest in the natural world didn't last as long as it might have. I don't know how much of it has to do with the fact that girls' aren't really encouraged to pursue interests in math and science in traditional public schools (I think this is slowly changing for the better), or simply the fact that my natural inclinations ran more along the literature/history path, but by high school, I had pretty much abandoned any interest in a microscope. Still, this book rekindled an enthusiasm for that sort of thing, leaving me actually wanting to break out some field guides and learn more about the grandness of the natural world all around us, if only to be able to answer at least some of the questions I know Kate will soon pose. Truly, a beautiful book.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
I've spent this cold, rainy afternoon curled up with this book, and what a treat. You know the old adage about not judging a book by its cover? Well, while in the more abstract sense that may be true, when we're talking about literal books and their covers, I must confess myself entirely guilty of discovering some of my favorite books entirely based on the cover artwork. It's crossed my mind that I may be incredibly shallow, but so be it. In any event, this book was no exception. I've always taken a fancy to silhouettes, so when I saw this book at the library, I just had to check it out. And I haven't been disappointed at all. This is a children's book, so it's been a quick, easy read, but absolutely brimming with life and joy. Calpurnia Tate is a little girl growing up in Texas. The year is 1899, she is eleven years old, and the only girl in a family of rowdy, rambunctious boys. The story follows Callie through the year as she develops a close relationship with her grandfather, an avid naturalist. It reminds me of my own girlhood exploits "studying" various bugs and animals. Unfortunately, my intense interest in the natural world didn't last as long as it might have. I don't know how much of it has to do with the fact that girls' aren't really encouraged to pursue interests in math and science in traditional public schools (I think this is slowly changing for the better), or simply the fact that my natural inclinations ran more along the literature/history path, but by high school, I had pretty much abandoned any interest in a microscope. Still, this book rekindled an enthusiasm for that sort of thing, leaving me actually wanting to break out some field guides and learn more about the grandness of the natural world all around us, if only to be able to answer at least some of the questions I know Kate will soon pose. Truly, a beautiful book.
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That book sounds lovely!
ReplyDeleteThat book has me so intrigued -- thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, I wasn't an outdoorsy person AT ALL, but now I am a field biologist and fall in with the nature-lovin' crowd. For me, becoming friends with other people who loved nature and actually WANTED to be out in it was a turning point! (There was a paucity of those folks in my childhood.)
On a related note, there's a very interesting book called Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv that resolved me to get my (future) children outside in nature every day possible!
By all means, hunt down some field guides and see what you can see! Nature is waiting for you!