Skip to main content

One Beetle Too Many: The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin

By

ONE BEETLE TOO MANY: THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF CHARLES DARWIN; Kathryn Lasky, illustrated by Matthew Trueman; Somerville, MA: Candlewick, 2009; unpaged.
At first I thought Matthew Trueman's illustrations were a bit juvenile-looking for Lasky's serious subject, but text and pictures end up to be perfectly complementary as we follow the young, endlessly fascinated Darwin through his childhood of beetle collecting (once finding three he wanted to take home, he put one in his mouth to free his hands for the other two), and then on his monumental voyage of discovery on the Beagle. Throughout the expedition, the vessel's captain, Robert Fitzroy, provided the foil for Darwin's discoveries in terms of contemporary religious belief in an unchangeable, inviolate Creation and Lasky expertly presents the one, then the other. She also faces the religious issue square-on: "Even though Darwin believed in change, that did not mean that he did not believe in God or a Creator. He would later write in reply to a question about his religion, 'I do not believe in the Bible as divine revelation and therefore not in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.' But he did believe in a Creator who had 'originally breathed' life in to the earliest forms of living things." Whatever your belief, strictly creationist, strictly evolutionary biology, or the combination of the two many of us hew to, one could hardly go wrong using One Beetle too Many as a starting point for discussions about everything from the scientific method, to the wonders of the natural world, to the connection between theology and science.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

By
KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...
Post a Comment
Read more

Five Faves: New Dragon Chapter Books for Middle Grade

By
As a kid I was OBSESSED (all caps!) with dragons.  Dragons can be scary, majestic, loyal, greedy, but what they all have in common is how fun they are to read about!  Check out the dragon books below for some fun new reads! Dad Rock Dragon Quest Written by Joan Reardon New York : Aladdin, 2025. Fiction. 342 pgs. Dad Rock Dragon Quest follows 12-year-old aspiring rockstar Zadie Drake, whose summer plans to bond with her super cool, if sometimes absent, daredevil park ranger dad get complicated when her mom’s boring new boyfriend tags along. After they arrive at her dad’s cabin, a poacher kidnaps her dad’s ice-breathing dragon, revealing her dad's secret role protecting magical creatures and thrusting the family into a high-stakes rescue mission. Along the way, Zadie begins to rethink her relationships with both her father and her mom’s boyfriend.  Dragonborn Written by Struan Murrya New York, NY : Dutton Children's Books, 2025. Fiction. 320 pgs. Dragonborn  follows 1...
Post a Comment
Read more

Winter 2026 Book Boxes

By
Looking for a new read? We’ve got you covered! Check out one of our Book Boxes for kids ages 9-12. Each Book Box contains a book to check out, as well as envelopes filled with fun surprises that you can open as you read along. We have two new books available to check out! Boxes can be put on hold through the library website, and can picked up at the Circulation Desk. Our One Dead Spy and The Case of the Missing Marquess Book Boxes will each be available to pick up from December 19, 2025 through December 30, 2026. Each child aged 9-12 can check out each Book Box once during that time, so get one now to read during winter break, or wait until summer and check it out then! One Dead Spy By Nathan Hale New York : Amulet Books, 2012. 127 pages. Comic. This graphic novel tells the tale of Nathan Hale, one of America's first spies, who was hanged for espionage in 1776. But in this version, just before he is set to be hanged he is eaten by a giant book, which he uses to explain the revoluti...
Post a Comment
Read more