Rachel Carson: Preserving a Sense of Wonder

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Summary: Introducing young students to the work of Rachel Carson
Review: Rachel Carson's most famous book was "Silent Screen," which was translated into more than fifteen foreign languages and is considered the most influential book of the past fifty years. But she also wrote several books to teach young people about nature, including "Help Your Child to Wonder" and "A Sense of Wonder," the latter of which Thomas Locker and Joseph Bruchac incorporates into the title of this volume, "Rachel Carson: Preserving a Sense of Wonder." Larson's lyrical paintings compliment Bruchac's text in telling the story of how a young girl from a small town in Pennsylvania "saw the magic in spring fog and heard the ocean's song in her heart" and grew up to become a groundbreaking environmental author.

Most of the artwork depicts nature scenes, such as young Rachel looking a field of flowers and several nice seascapes. Often Carson is no more than a small figure in these paintings, but there is a nice portrait of Carson, leaning against a fence, with the sea behind her. This appears opposite the most important text in the book, where it is explained to young readers that Carson's book "Silent Spring" was important in helping people understand that breaking one strand in the web of life put every other strand in danger. Those young readers will be surprised to learn that this was not obvious to everybody until Carson wrote her book in the 1960s, but this is indeed the case.

"Preserving a Sense of Wonder" provides a basic introduction to the life and work of Rachel Carson, although certainly there is much more to learn about both her life and her beliefs. The last page of the volume has over a dozen quotes from the works of Rachel Carson (e.g., "Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts"), ideal for teachers or budding conservationists who are interested in having choice quotes for a bulletin board or bedroom wall. This is the third book in Locker's "Images of Conservationists" series, the others being "Walking with Henry: Based on the Life and Works of Henry David Thoreau" and "John Muir: America's Naturalist." Certainly any grade school unit on the environment and conservationism will have to introduce students to these three key figures and these books are a good way of accomplishing that task.