Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Sleeping Bear Press (2017), 32 pages
Description
"A picture book biography about naturalist and artist Anna Comstock (1854-1930), who defied social conventions and pursued the study of science. She pioneered a movement to encourage schools to conduct science and nature classes for children outdoors, thereby increasing students' interest in nature" --
User reviews
LibraryThing member nbmars
This book for readers 5 and up tells the story of Anna Botsford Comstock, born in 1854, who became a pioneering naturalist. The author explains how Anna wanted to study nature - especially insects. Anna went to Cornell to study and also developed her skill of drawing what she saw, using a
She became known as an expert on nature. In the Afterword the author tells us that in 1895, New York officials consulted her for help when farms began producing less food because more farm children left for cities instead of staying home to work family fields. Anna discovered that New York schools weren’t teaching any classes about nature, so students didn’t gain any appreciation for the land. She decided to help by designing lesson plans about the mysteries of nature which “captivated curious teachers.” Soon, nature classes sprang up everywhere. Anna also asked teachers to take their classes outside, so “nature itself could teach children.” Several schools agreed, “and the children became wild about nature!” In 1898 she was appointed Assistant Professor of Nature Study at Cornell University - the first woman to held the title of “Professor” at Cornell.
Anna then wrote and/or illustrated books and textbooks about nature, collaborating with her entomologist husband John Henry Comstock. Her most popular book was called Handbook of Nature Study, and despite having over 900 pages, the author writes that when it was released in 1911, “it flew off bookstore shelves like swallows soaring south in summer.”
Anna died in 1930 but her books lived on, her handbook having been translated into eight languages and reprinted dozens of times.
Quotations from Comstock are interwoven into the text.
Evaluation: This book is perfect for younger readers, with its easy words and appealing watercolors by Jessica Lanan showing flowers and insects and nature scenes. Today’s children can use a reminder of all the wonder that is just outside and not found on their smart phones or videogames.
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microscope to ensure accuracy. The author writes, “Her bugs looked so real they almost crawled right off the paper!” One professor even started using her pictures as visual aids during his lectures.She became known as an expert on nature. In the Afterword the author tells us that in 1895, New York officials consulted her for help when farms began producing less food because more farm children left for cities instead of staying home to work family fields. Anna discovered that New York schools weren’t teaching any classes about nature, so students didn’t gain any appreciation for the land. She decided to help by designing lesson plans about the mysteries of nature which “captivated curious teachers.” Soon, nature classes sprang up everywhere. Anna also asked teachers to take their classes outside, so “nature itself could teach children.” Several schools agreed, “and the children became wild about nature!” In 1898 she was appointed Assistant Professor of Nature Study at Cornell University - the first woman to held the title of “Professor” at Cornell.
Anna then wrote and/or illustrated books and textbooks about nature, collaborating with her entomologist husband John Henry Comstock. Her most popular book was called Handbook of Nature Study, and despite having over 900 pages, the author writes that when it was released in 1911, “it flew off bookstore shelves like swallows soaring south in summer.”
Anna died in 1930 but her books lived on, her handbook having been translated into eight languages and reprinted dozens of times.
Quotations from Comstock are interwoven into the text.
Evaluation: This book is perfect for younger readers, with its easy words and appealing watercolors by Jessica Lanan showing flowers and insects and nature scenes. Today’s children can use a reminder of all the wonder that is just outside and not found on their smart phones or videogames.
Show Less
Awards
Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award (Children's Literature — 2017)
Green Earth Book Award (Honor — Picture Book — 2018)
Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0-18 (Selection — 2018)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
32 p.; 10.3 inches
ISBN
1585369861 / 9781585369867