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“Hands-down one of the most beautiful books of the year.” —NPR
A New York Times Bestseller
Barnes & Noble Book of the Year
Beloved author Aimee Nezhukumatathil's celebrated work of nonfiction, now including additional essays and illustrations. As a child, Nezhukumatathil called many places home: the grounds of a Kansas mental institution, where her Filipina mother was a doctor; the open skies and tall mountains of Arizona, where she hiked with her Indian father; and the chillier climes of western New York and Ohio. But no matter where she was transplanted—no matter how awkward the fit or forbidding the landscape—she was able to turn to our world’s fierce and funny creatures for guidance.
“What the peacock can do,” she tells us, “is remind you of a home you will run away from and run back to all your life.” The axolotl teaches us to smile, even in the face of unkindness; the touch-me-not plant shows us how to shake off unwanted advances; the narwhal demonstrates how to survive in hostile environments. Even in the strange and the unlovely, Nezhukumatathil finds beauty and kinship. For it is this way with wonder: it requires that we are curious enough to look past the distractions in order to fully appreciate the world’s gifts.
Warm, lyrical, and gorgeously illustrated by Fumi Nakamura,
World of Wonders is a book of sustenance and joy.
List of contents
Catalpa Tree 1
Firefly 9
Peacock 15
Comb Jelly 20
Touch-Me-Nots 25
Cactus Wren 28
Narwhal 35
Axolotl 43
Dancing Frog 49
Vampire Squid 53
Monsoon 58
Corpse Flower 69
Bonnet Macaque 74
Calendars Poetica 79
Whale Shark 85
Potoo 93
Cara Cara Orange 98
Octopus 103
Grey Cockatiel 108
Dragon Fruit 113
Flamingo 116
Ribbon Eel 123
Questions While Searching for Birds
with My Half-White Sons, Aged Six and Nine,
National Audubon Bird Count Day,
Oxford, MS 128
Superb Bird of Paradise 133
Red-Spotted Newt 138
Southern Cassowary 145
Monarch Butterfly 151
Barreleye Fish: An Abecedarian 157
Dandelion 169
South Philippine Dwarf Kingfisher 173
Candle Larkspur 181
Firefly (Redux) 183
Acknowledgments 189
Reader’s Guide 195
Teaching Guide 221
About the author
Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the author of World of Wonders, an illustrated essay collection, as well as of four books of poetry, including, most recently, Oceanic, winner of the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award. Other awards for her writing include fellowships and grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Mississippi Arts Council, and MacDowell. Her writing appears in Poetry, the New York Times Magazine, ESPN, and Tin House. She serves as poetry faculty for the Writing Workshops in Greece and is professor of English and Creative Writing in the University of Mississippi's MFA program.Fumi Nakamura is a street artist, illustrator, and designer. Originally from Shimizu, Japan, her family moved to California when she was twelve. Her intense and sometimes eerie graphite and coloured pencil artworks have been featured in exhibitions around the world. Nakamura holds a bachelor's in Pictorial Arts from San Jose State University. She lives in New York City.
Summary
“Hands-down one of the most beautiful books of the year.” —NPR
A New York Times Bestseller
Barnes & Noble Book of the Year
Beloved author Aimee Nezhukumatathil's celebrated work of nonfiction, now including additional essays and illustrations.
As a child, Nezhukumatathil called many places home: the grounds of a Kansas mental institution, where her Filipina mother was a doctor; the open skies and tall mountains of Arizona, where she hiked with her Indian father; and the chillier climes of western New York and Ohio. But no matter where she was transplanted—no matter how awkward the fit or forbidding the landscape—she was able to turn to our world’s fierce and funny creatures for guidance.
“What the peacock can do,” she tells us, “is remind you of a home you will run away from and run back to all your life.” The axolotl teaches us to smile, even in the face of unkindness; the touch-me-not plant shows us how to shake off unwanted advances; the narwhal demonstrates how to survive in hostile environments. Even in the strange and the unlovely, Nezhukumatathil finds beauty and kinship. For it is this way with wonder: it requires that we are curious enough to look past the distractions in order to fully appreciate the world’s gifts.
Warm, lyrical, and gorgeously illustrated by Fumi Nakamura, World of Wonders is a book of sustenance and joy.
Foreword
- Major advertising campaigns with Bookshop.org, Edelweiss, Baker & Taylor, Meta, Goodreads, Google Sponsored Search, and all indie regionals
- Major send to key influential booksellers send to highlight Indie Next promotion
- Major publicity outreach focused on author profiles, positioning the author and book as one of the most transformative contemporary books inviting readers to explore their relationship to science and the natural world
- Major academic campaign to 100K educators, positioning the title as a competitive candidate for Common Read programs
- Author attending PLA in Columbus, April 2024
- Paperback release launch event in Oxford, MS, followed by tour stops in Minneapolis, Baltimore, San Antonio, Portland, and Boston
- Ongoing ebook promotions with focus on Earth Month/Summer reading and Holiday reading promos
- Email marketing promotion via the publisher to readers, sales and academic lists of more than 65K contacts
