World of Wonders

By Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Fumi Nakamura (illustrator),

Book cover of World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments

Book description

"Hands-down one of the most beautiful books of the year." -NPR

From beloved, award-winning poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil comes a debut work of nonfiction-a collection of essays about the natural world, and the way its inhabitants can teach, support, and inspire us.

As a child, Nezhukumatathil called many places home: the…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked World of Wonders as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

There’s this rumor that poets look longer and harder at the ornaments of the world than do anyone else.  They keep looking, and looking, and looking, after most everyone else has long ago looked away, moved on. Here, in the wonderful world of poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s first book of nonfiction, whimsy and reverence twine like the DNA helices of the flora and fauna she examines. In her essay on the firefly, I adore the part when the insects “…lose their light rhythm for a few minutes after a single car’s headlights pass. Sometimes it takes hours for them to recalibrate…

World of Wonders was my salve during the early months of the pandemic. In spring 2020, I was craving something light, beautiful, and engaging to read. During quarantine, my family, like many others, rediscovered the beauty in our gardens and our neighborhoods. Nezhukumatahil’s prose poetry encouraged an enlivening of the every day, and inspired a reconnection with nature in ways that made us feel less “quarantined” and more connected to the smaller beings that share and shape our world. World of Wonders is also an invitation to nostalgia— the author’s recollections of her own ‘wondrous’ childhood memories sparked my…

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