Sunday, March 22, 2009

Darwin: With Glimpses into His Private Journal & Letters

Darwin: With Glimpses into His Private Journal & Letters by Alice B. McGinty, Mary Azarian (Illustrator)
Filled with the fascinating words of Charles Darwin—designed as handwritten entries—this picture book biography reveals the assembling of a profound idea: the survival of the fittest. Two hundred years after his birth, 150 years after the publication of his ORIGIN OF SPECIES, this thought-provoking, splendidly illustrated account invites us into the private thoughts, hopes and fears of a soul who forever changed the way we see the world.
"Whenever I have found out that I have blundered, or that my work has been imperfect, and when I have been contemptuously criticized, and even when I have been overpraised, so that I have felt mortified, it has been my greatest comfort to say hundreds of times to myself...I have worked as hard and as well as I could, and no man can do more than this...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

...The endnotes and source list are comprehensive but, appropriately, do not intrude on the easy-to-read text. Azarian's woodcuts are filled with cheerful color and capture the moments in Darwin's life that will most intrigue children. With its cover made to look like one of his own battered brown leather notebooks, showing the naturalist surrounded by his beloved specimens, this is a pleasing package for children just learning about the man and his work.