August 26, 2019
Journalist Barnes (How to Be a Bad Birdwatcher) reminds readers to take time out to pay full attention to their natural surroundings in this earnest and accessible how-to guide. Encouraging his audience to get back into “the habit of looking and seeing and listening and hearing,” Barnes offers sound advice and educational information. Some of his tidbits are scientific—he discusses how to identify butterflies by nearby trees, for instance, or how to know which animals are in the vicinity by recognizing their droppings. Other information is more pragmatic, as when he declares that all aspiring amateur naturalists should own their own pair of waterproof trousers, so “you are free to step out in a downpour—and not just survive. You can actively enjoy it.” Barnes recommends a good set of binoculars, too (“Take them with you whenever you go for a walk... You never know what might turn up”) and says one should keep the lens caps off one’s cameras during jaunts, so as to be ready in an instant to capture a special sight. Informative and useful, his manual should prove a valuable resource for any novice nature-philes interested in reveling in the “wildness in us all.” Agent: Georgina Capel, Georgina Capel Assoc.
September 15, 2019
There is wildness in all of us, writes English journalist Barnes (The Meaning of Birds, 2018), but in most of us it's latent, sleeping, unused. This fanciful yet grounded book is his clarion call for rediscovering the wild world of nature through simple actions and a reframed perspective. In the author's telling, the buddleia tree's capacity for attracting butterflies make it the Magic Tree, waterproof pants make their wearer lord of the weather, and an appreciation for bats' echolocation abilities makes darkness far less daunting. He also advocates for prolonged, quiet sitting in nature (a bottomless sit, in his words) to help quiet the mind and capture the wildness that comes in the waiting. Frequently quoting from Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia, Barnes injects what otherwise would be conventional nature writing with whimsy and a convivial, discursive style that somehow turns even animal droppings into a thing of immense significance and meaning. The short chapters and approachable tone should appeal to any nature lover, but especially for the budding naturalist.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)