Night Walk to the Sea

June 1, 2020
In a simple tale based on Rachel Carson's writings, the naturalist takes her great-nephew on a walk that reinforces the better parts of his emerging selfhood. The story begins by stating that it is bedtime in Rachel's cabin in the woods and a thunderstorm is brewing. On the next double-page spread, a little boy named Roger, dressed in Godzilla PJs, plays monster with a woman named Rachel whose relationship to him is explained only in the backmatter. Roger is scared when the lights go out--although he will not admit it--and he is rude to Rachel when she tries to comfort him. Throughout the book, Roger's all-too-human, childish behavior swings rapidly through phases of obstreperousness, fright, and tenderness while Rachel's attitude and speech unwaveringly resemble the wise woman of fairy tales. Her didacticism works for any age of reader when she is discussing luminescent ocean life but not so well when she reminds Roger he loves and protects the wilderness. After the storm, Rachel and Roger walk through woods to the sea. Here the text is lovely and lyrical. The climax comes when Roger discovers a struggling firefly in the seafoam and Rachel helps him rescue it. The tale is slightly long for a bedtime read-aloud, making it apt for slightly older preschoolers. When illustrating natural phenomena, the art--like the text--is magical. The human depictions are sometimes awkward. Doesn't quite jell but worthwhile reading nevertheless. (biographical note, science note, further reading) (Picture book. 3-5)

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July 13, 2020
Loosely based on two anecdotes from the ecologist and writer Rachel Carson’s life (1907–1964), Wiles’s fictional tale focuses on the emotional world of Roger, a small child who pivots from fear in a power outage to stomping waves to delicately rescuing a waterlogged firefly “as carefully as the most gentle monster” in the company of his caregiver, Carson. Descriptions of nature are especially poignant: “they released the firefly... watched it flit and circle and wink away.” Miyares’s dreamlike illustrations complement the lengthy poetic text, using light and dark to evoke Roger’s sense of confidence, comfort, fear, and wonder while conjuring the magic of a flashlight-lit walk to a bioluminescent ocean on a thundery night. Some readers may find the title misleading, however, as historical information about Carson’s significant life and legacy appear only as back matter. Ages 4–8.