An informative guide to tending a garden and appreciating the natural world.
In this memoir and gardening manual, a lifelong naturalist shares his love and detailed knowledge of plants and animals.
In the preface to this engaging book of essays, Plummer reveals that most of them were previously published in the newsletter of the Spencer Crest Nature Center, near his home in New York state's southern tier. Indeed, the richly informative chapters that follow will make readers feel as if they’re part of a select society of those who not only love to observe nature, but also to take part in it through gardening. Beginning with chapters on “Early Bird Watching” and “The Evolution of a Garden,” Plummer describes his own development as an amateur naturalist and a gardener. His avuncular humor, apparent in the title pun and in such chapters as “Among Fronds” and “What Woodst Thou?” injects a pleasantly conversational tone that effectively counteracts the book’s tendency toward repetition and long lists. The book is filled with engaging details, such as that cedar waxwing birds get drunk on fermented mountain ash berries, and practical suggestions, such as which type of trowel to use for specific jobs. Although most of the author’s observations center on his expansive 50-year-old garden in Painted Post, New York, the penultimate chapter, “Tripping the Light Fantastic!” is a chronicle of various expeditions in upstate New York, Delaware, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington state to observe new plants, animals, and minerals. Plummer’s approach may be too dense with facts for casual readers, but it’s an excellent handbook for the serious gardener or student of nature, who’ll be fascinated to learn, for example, about the delicate blue wildflower called Venus’ looking-glass, also known as whorled loosestrife. Sections on “Common Names / Latin Names” and “Garden Quotes” from other authors add interest, and a detailed index makes it easy to access the book’s plentiful information.
An informative guide to tending a garden and appreciating the natural world.Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5320-1449-9
Page Count: 246
Publisher: iUniverse
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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