The Japanese poet Matsuo Bashó wrote: “Sitting quietly, doing nothing, Spring comes, and the grass grows, by itself.”
Nature’s eternal clock—day to day and season to season—entranced Rachel Carson as a child. She loved spending time outdoors exploring. She listened to the chorus of birdsongs around her in the morning… “Chee-chee…caw, caw!...whoo whoo…” She had the comfort of her family at night and was ready to go exploring the next day. Rachel thought she would grow up to be a writer and tell all about what she saw and heard. Then in college, she studied the tiny forms of life she could see through a microscope, and became a scientist. She studied the plants and animals of the ocean in particular, and wrote wonderful books read by many people. But then Rachel noticed something important about the birdsongs that she so loved: they were disappearing. Exploring further, studying carefully, she realized that the chemicals people were using to protect themselves and plants from insect pests were harmful chemicals that destroyed birds and other creatures important to nature’s cycle of life. Her book Silent Spring informed the public about the poisons being used in the environment; the U. S. Congress also listened to her authoritative testimony, and laws protecting nature began to be passed. The picture book biography Spring After Spring: How Rachel Carson Inspired the Environmental Movement is the story of a fascinating woman. Stephanie Roth Sisson says in her Author’s Note: “Silent Spring is one of those books that changes the way a whole society thinks.” Indeed, Rachel Carson’s work can be considered the keystone of the modern environmental movement. Sisson's graceful words and delightful pictures weave together to provide lasting inspiration to readers to continue Carson’s attention to nature’s eternal clock--and to consider our own roles in protecting our delicate ecosystem. Roaring Brook Press, 2018. Ages 4-8.
