Deborah Hopkinson

Children's & YAPicture BookChildren's

Beware the Dragon and the Nozzlewock

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

Young readers devour books in graphic format, whether they’re novels, graphic nonfiction, traditional comics—or innovative works like Vikram Madan’s newest, Beware the Dragon and the Nozzlewock: A Graphic Novel Poetry Collection Full of Surprising Characters!. Having worked as an engineer before returning to his first love of “rhyming and doodling,” Madan has created more than a dozen books, including the poetry collection A Hatful of Dragons.

Madan’s latest is funny and quirky—the sort of book you give to kids who claim not to like poetry, as well as those who do. The interconnected poems feature goofy, silly creatures like ghosts who turn into ghost guppies, squishosaurs, and the Nozzlewock (you’ll have to read to find out more). Throughout, Mandan’s background in STEM shines through, in poems on topics like wormholes and scientists. 

Madan celebrates wordplay, and doesn’t shy away from unusual or long words. As the squishosaurs explain, “Where other dinos trot or plod, / We undulate and flow. / Our protoplasmic pseudopods / Are silent as the snow.” Madan’s artistic style is appealing; the panels vary in size and are easy to read, making this a great choice for readers new to the graphic format.

Bursting with energy and bright images, Beware the Dragon and the Nozzlewock is smart, sassy and perfect for reading alone or out loud together. It’s already on this reviewer’s list for a certain 8-year-old! 

Bursting with energy and bright images, Beware the Dragon and the Nozzlewock is smart, sassy and perfect for reading alone or out loud together.
NonfictionCrafts, Hobbies & Home

The Water-Smart Garden

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

Arizona horticulturalist Noelle Johnson, sometimes known as the “AZ plant lady,” shares her expertise and longtime passion for gardening in a hot, dry climate in this informative guide to gardening in our changing climate. The Water-Smart Garden: Techniques and Strategies for Conserving, Capturing, and Efficiently Using Water in Today’s Climate . . . and Tomorrow’s, of course, is not simply for those living in or near the desert, but also has practical use for gardeners elsewhere. As Johnson notes at the outset, “shrinking water supplies also are occurring in more temperate regions.” 

Johnson’s clear, accessible text begins with some basic information about how plants use water. Throughout, she aims to assuage concerns that a waterwise garden only consists of rocks and cacti. She includes chapters on plant choices, building drought-resistant soil and watering efficiently—in other words, giving gardeners essential tools and techniques to plan, make changes and maintain a sustainable garden. Johnson’s chapter on capturing rainfall and passive water harvesting is especially useful, as precipitation patterns shift. Tips, graphics and photographs demonstrate how to maximize available water throughout the year. 

Not much of a gardener? The Water-Smart Garden will also be a great choice for those who don’t wish to spend much time or money on their yard and want to keep water bills low. Johnson’s book includes charts to help gardeners and homeowners choose the best trees, shrubs, vines and plants for their region. Simply put, if you’re a gardener concerned about the climate, this book is for you.

Noelle Johnson’s book includes charts to help gardeners and homeowners choose the best trees, shrubs, vines and plants for their region.
NonfictionCrafts, Hobbies & Home

Your Asian Veggie Patch

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

Based in Melbourne, Australia, permaculture expert Connie Cao brings a joyful exuberance to her book about growing and enjoying Asian vegetables, herbs and fruits. Whether you’re an expert or new to Asian culinary traditions, Cao’s enthusiasm is contagious. Cao is the daughter of immigrants from Shanghai, who moved to Australia in 1988, and she grew up watching her dad tend his garden. Cao notes, “The thing that got me into gardening is the magic that happens from seed to food.” Your Asian Veggie Patch: A Guide to Growing and Cooking Delicious Asian Vegetables, Herbs and Fruits provides an excellent introduction for anyone wishing to experience that magic for themselves.

Cao’s well-organized, easy-to-follow book provides guidance on growing, harvesting and cooking Asian veggies. Many of the recipes that appear were inspired by her own family’s traditions. Cao is trained in permaculture, and also includes principles and practices of this sustainable, regenerative approach to gardening and agriculture.

Cao has an easy, conversational style. In Part 1, she covers many gardening basics, including a page on plant families that is especially helpful for gaining a better understanding of vegetables and herbs. Part 2 features plant profiles organized by season. For instance, Asian mustards come first in cool-season veggies, while vegetables like eggplant and long beans appear in the warm-season section. Each plant’s profile includes photographs that show how to plant, grow, harvest and cook it. 

Interested but not sure where to start? Browse through all the gorgeous, mouthwatering pictures of finished dishes in this delightful book: You won’t go wrong picking any of these options to grow and cook yourself.

Connie Cao’s well-organized, easy-to-follow book provides guidance on growing, harvesting and cooking Asian veggies.
NonfictionCrafts, Hobbies & Home

Garden Wonderland

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

In the innovative Garden Wonderland: Creating Life-Changing Outdoor Spaces for Beauty, Harvest, Meaning, and Joy, garden designer Leslie Bennett teams up with writer and editor Julie Chai to explore how to create outdoor spaces that nurture family, friends and community. 

At the outset, the authors suggest that readers grab a blank notepad to jot down ideas and goals as they go along. And that’s wise advice, as this book is replete with helpful tips as well as the fundamentals. Part 1 focuses on the practical, which will be appreciated by those new to gardening or garden design. The authors share four principles that ground their approach to gardening: making plants part of your daily life; surrounding yourself with beauty; making space for connection; and fortifying your sense of belonging. Most importantly, they stress that rather than conforming to someone else’s idea of what a garden should be, individuals and families should create spaces that work for them. Bennett and Chai also discuss considerations such as space allotment, seating arrangements and sun exposure. There’s also helpful information on design concepts, with tips about selecting plants for foliage and color.

The second part of the book focuses on inspiration. This section features garden “wonderlands” that celebrate edible and floral landscapes, along with gardens designed to serve as gathering places or to spotlight cultural heritages. Full color photographs throughout show gardens, plants, and the individuals and families who treasure them. With its seamless integration of gardening principles with advanced design ideas, Garden Wonderland is the perfect gift for new gardeners—or anyone in need of a little inspiration.  

With its seamless integration of gardening principles with advanced design ideas, Garden Wonderland is the perfect gift for new gardeners—or anyone in need of a little inspiration.
NonfictionCrafts, Hobbies & Home

A Year in Bloom

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

For anyone who’s ever perused a bulb catalog and been overwhelmed trying to choose among the many varieties of daffodils, tulips or amaryllises, this book by British garden designer and author Lucy Bellamy is for you. With bright, full-color photographs by Jason Ingram, A Year in Bloom: Flowering Bulbs for Every Season takes the guesswork out of selecting bulbs that will brighten your yard year-round. 

A Year in Bloom is clear and well-organized. Bellamy provides a helpful introduction, then introduces her featured 150 bulbs by season, beginning with late winter/early spring. Bellamy’s text and selections are especially helpful for gardeners seeking to adapt to climate change and focus on sustainability. For instance, she notes a new emphasis on bulbs that are perennial over single-use hybrids. The selections here also recognize the desire of many gardeners to support pollinators and encourage biodiversity. 

As a former editor of Gardens Illustrated magazine, Bellamy made her selections by calling on her network of international garden designers, landscape architects and head gardeners. These recommendations add depth and interest to the text. For instance, in recommending the snowdrop called “E.A. Bowles,” Bellamy consulted British nurseryman Joe Sharmon, known as “Mr. Snowdrop.” Bellamy includes a complete list of those who nominated their favorites in the back matter, along with an indexed list of bulbs by function, conveying which are best for shade, for planting in pots, naturalizing, for cut flowers, etc.

Planting bulbs usually means planning ahead. A Year in Bloom is a practical, beautiful handbook that will find a place in any gardener’s library.

Planting bulbs usually means planning ahead. A Year in Bloom is a practical, beautiful handbook that will find a place in any gardener’s library.
NonfictionNatureAnimals

Thinking Like a Wolf

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

Rick McIntyre began working at Yellowstone National Park in 1994, just before the Fish and Wildlife Service reintroduced gray wolves in an effort to balance the ecological diversity of the park. He has spent thousands of hours observing many generations of wolves, and documents his insights into their social dynamics in his endlessly compelling Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone series, which has brought a groundbreaking understanding of the species to readers.

Thinking Like a Wolf: Lessons From the Yellowstone Packs explores personal territory: how the wolves have inspired the author. In 2015, when McIntyre was recovering from major heart surgery, he began seeing wolf 926 (the wolves are not named) in his dreams. Small but intelligent, 926 had lived a tough life but rose to dominance in her pack. McIntyre writes that in time of need, she “motivated me to emulate her determination to advance in life regardless of any setbacks and trauma.”

He follows this powerful introduction with eight stories of different wolves. While Thinking Like a Wolf is the fifth book in the Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone series, it’s not necessary to have read any of the previous titles. The author provides a treasure trove of information at the start, including maps of the parks, illustrated renderings of the wolves and timelines that record each pack’s principal members. Based on McIntyre’s extensive field research notes, as well as deep knowledge of Yellowstone and wolf behavior, the portraits are fascinating, informative and sometimes heartbreaking. McIntyre provides remarkable histories, like that of 755, a lone wolf who sired pups in several different packs over more than nine years before disappearing from human view (he likely outlasted the battery in his collar).

The power struggles documented are reminiscent of the jockeying for dominance in Game of Thrones, and thanks to McIntyre’s compelling storytelling and keen observations, the narrative sparkles. At one point, he watches five little cubs play “like kids during recess in a schoolyard.” One of those pups is 926, the wolf who inspired the author in his cardiac recovery. Her later death and McIntyre’s efforts to honor her legacy remind us that protecting the wilderness and the wolves that call it home is not simply a responsibility, but a privilege. Thinking Like a Wolf, and the entire Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone series, is a remarkable account of animal behavior, and a singular contribution to our understanding of wildlife.

The fifth entry in Rick McIntyre’s Alpha Wolves of Yellowstone series chronicles the lives of eight wolves in stories that sparkle with insight.
Children's & YAPicture BookChildren's

Noodles on a Bicycle

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

One of the most delicious parts of this exuberant picture book set in 20th-century Tokyo is the inclusion of two small, eye-popping historic photos: Here are actual soba noodle deliverymen in action, balancing impossible towers of noodles on one shoulder as they whiz through the city streets. The images, which appear in the front matter and on the back cover of Noodles on a Bicycle, complement Kyo Maclear’s tribute to these wheeled magicians, and will help young readers see that Gracey Zhang’s illustrations of these noodle towers are inspired by the real thing.

In an author’s note, Maclear shares that she spent her childhood in a Tokyo neighborhood where cycling deliverymen were part of daily life—and completely fascinating to a child. Maclear’s lyrical, rhythmic text captures this childhood sense of wonder, as the narrator and her siblings wait in the morning for the first “flicker of pedal and wheel.” The narrative also includes the actual noodle-making process, in which the sobaya chef rises at dawn to cut noodles and create his special, famous broth.

Store names, road signs and advertisements on trucks are all shown in Japanese characters. Zhang’s vibrant, colorful illustrations are full of tiny, authentic details that will entrance adult readers as well. If you imagined that these cyclists balanced light, relatively sturdy bowls made of plastic or lacquer, you’d be wrong: They carried ceramic soup bowls and wooden soba boxes. As the story follows these amazing acrobats throughout their busy day, the narrator and her friends and siblings practice balancing bowls filled with water. Watch out!

There’s a lovely surprise at the end, too, as the children and their mother are getting hungry for dinner. Will they get a delivery themselves? They will, and it’s special indeed, brought by their own “delivery daddy.”  Rather than end with the meal, we see a tired father lovingly tucking his children into bed, while outside the empty dishes are stacked for collection. In Noodles on a Bicycle, words and art come together seamlessly to reveal a world now long gone, in a loving, memorable tale that children will want to savor time and again. 

In Noodles on a Bicycle, words and art come together seamlessly to reveal a world long gone of soba deliverymen in 20th-century Tokyo—while also spinning a loving, memorable tale that children will want to savor time and again.
Children's & YAMiddle GradeChildren's

The Night Librarian

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

While the National Archives may be the nation’s official library, the New York Public Library is often first in the hearts of book lovers. Christopher Lincoln’s engaging, gorgeously illustrated graphic novel The Night Librarian is a shining addition to books that celebrate this iconic library.

“Magic builds in books,” declares the prologue, and we’re told the longer a book has been around, the more likely the characters get so bottled up “living the same scene over and over” that they must escape. Luckily for Turner and his twin sister, Page, there are librarians specially trained to handle these magical eruptions: night librarians.

Page and Turner are city kids who have a flaky nanny and absentee jet-setting parents. Allowed to go to the library on their own, they arrive one day with a bag containing their dad’s rare copy of Dracula, with the goal of researching the story of an ancestor who may have met author Bram Stoker at a 1901 reading. We get to see the twins using a microfilm reader, but they don’t find any mention of their relative. Instead, they discover an 1899 newspaper article with the foreboding headline, “Earthquake reported in the stacks.” On this same visit, their book bag starts making strange thumping noises—as if something is trying to get out.

The twins meet the stylish night librarian, Ms. Literati, who promises to research their copy of Dracula further. When they return the next afternoon, the book bag’s thumping intensifies, until something emerges from Dracula, and takes the book with it. Soon, there’s a whole string of literary escapees, including a dragon and the beanstalk from “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Time is of the essence to keep the entire library safe from the ensuing damage.

So the adventure begins, since clearly Ms. Literati needs dedicated volunteer help. Full of humor, friendship and just the right amount of danger and villainy, this beautifully designed novel has a clever time-travel plot twist and a satisfying emotional conclusion. As an added bonus, the many literary allusions are bound to delight adult readers as well, and may lead to further book adventures for curious readers.

 

Full of humor, friendship and just the right amount of danger and villainy, Christopher Lincoln’s beautifully designed The Night Librarian is bound to delight readers of all ages.
NonfictionHistoryCultural History

The Bookshop

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

“If bookstores were animals, they’d be on the list of endangered species,” notes author and historian Evan Friss in The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore. While endangered, bookstores are also, as Friss convincingly argues, resilient, powerful places with the capacity to anchor communities, shape lives and bring people together.

Friss sets the stage for his entertaining romp through history with an introductory portrait of Three Lives & Company, a cozy independent bookshop in Manhattan’s West Village with 6,000 books crammed into hand-carved shelves, and colorful booksellers who have worked there for decades and “keep track of inventory by hand, jotting down titles sold on yellow notepads.” Friss was more than a loyal customer there. When he married bookseller Amanda, the shop closed for the occasion.

Friss doesn’t neglect facts and figures, which can be depressing for those of us who could never quite enjoy You’ve Got Mail. We learn, for example, that the U.S. Census Bureau reported 13,499 bookstores in 1993; by 2021, the figure had dropped to 5,591. However, more than anything, Friss is a storyteller. Each chapter introduces us to fascinating, dedicated booksellers, including the multitalented Benjamin Franklin, who had a bookshop before bookselling businesses were widespread in the colonies. Friss tells us, “He was a shopkeeper who sold books (retail and wholesale), a printer (and sometimes binder), an editor (and sometimes author), a marketer, a publisher, and a postmaster—roles that blurred.”

Friss goes on to browse through the history of American bookstores in chapters that cover Chicago’s Marshall Field’s, the country’s “first book superstore,” as well as the last bastion on New York City’s erstwhile Book Row, the Strand. Having started with Franklin, it’s fitting that Friss’ final chapter focuses on another writer-bookseller: Ann Patchett. Patchett was already a successful author when she co-founded Nashville’s Parnassus Books with Karen Hayes in 2011. Friss tells us that Parnassus, along with other indies such as Word Up in New York City’s  Washington Heights neighborhood known as “Little Dominican Republic,” and Solid State Books, a Black-owned bookstore in Washington, D.C., have built loyal followings that have (mostly) enabled them to weather the COVID-19 pandemic—and Amazon.

Will the unique animal of the independent bookshop survive? In many ways, Friss suggests, that’s up to readers and book lovers—to us.

 

The Bookshop is an entertaining romp through the history of America’s bookstores, paying tribute to dusty stacks, colorful booksellers and the dedicated patrons who have helped shops endure.
NonfictionHistory

Raiders, Rulers, and Traders

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

Don’t be put off by the erudite title of David Chaffetz’s vividly narrated book. Raiders, Rulers, and Traders: The Horse and the Rise of Empires reads like an enthralling travel memoir. It begins with the author perched uncomfortably on the back of a sure-footed pony on the steppes of Mongolia, where his arrival at a remote yurt is celebrated with ayraq, fermented mare’s milk. “We could no more drink all of the milky liquor on offer than we could take in all of the Milky Way above our heads,” he writes, charmingly. Likewise, Chaffetz’s account of how horses and landscapes shaped the distant past glimmers with myriad fascinating insights, seamlessly woven into a cohesive whole.

He begins at the very start of Homo sapiens-Equus interactions, when horses were hunted for meat and gradually domesticated for nutrient-rich mare’s milk. That, in turn, led to the need to ride horses to manage larger herds. Chaffetz demonstrates how the grassy steppes of Eurasia, rather than the forests of Western Europe, best suited horses, which led to their role as engines of war and empire-building in Persia, India and China.

Never dry, the narrative is enlivened by intriguing details. Chaffetz reports that the word “post” can be traced to Persian mounted messengers who navigated hundreds of miles of terrain. Along the messenger’s route, horses were tied to stakes, or posts, so a rider could quickly dismount a tired horse and remount a fresh horse and continue their journey, carrying a ruler’s decree across vast distances. In this way, horses were key to conquering territory in war and then governing it. Chaffetz sets the stage for his discussion of Genghis Khan with the observation of a medieval visitor: “When I travelled in the steppes, I never saw anyone walking. . . . Even the poor have to have one or two [horses].” The Mongols’ vast herds presented an opportunity. As Chaffetz explains, “The rains, the grasses, and the geldings of Mongolia did not create Genghis Khan, but his conquests are impossible to understand without them.”

Chaffetz, whose previous two books show him traveling through Afghanistan on horseback and celebrating Asian divas of old, exudes a contagious enthusiasm and curiosity. In Raiders, Rulers, and Traders, readers will happily follow his journey as he chronicles how closely our history is intertwined with the magnificent horse.

 

David Chaffetz’s charming, masterful Raiders, Rulers, and Traders glimmers with fascinating insights into how horses have helped build our world.
NonfictionPhotographyLifestylesAnimals

Why We Photograph Animals

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

If your favorite part of social media is posting and seeing pet photos, you’re not alone. In Why We Photograph Animals, historian Huw Lewis-Jones reveals that more than three million dog photos are uploaded to Instagram daily—from the U.K. alone! What’s behind this urge to photograph animals, both domestic and wild? And is this a new phenomenon? 

Lewis-Jones explores these questions in nearly 300 images, both historical and contemporary. Many are breathtaking: a luminous, double-page spread of a black leopard and a gorilla strolling through clouds of butterflies. Others challenge us to examine our relationship with nature: A shot of tourists at a zoo, watching in an aquarium-like setting as a baby elephant is made to perform underwater, is especially disturbing.

Along with stunning images, this beautifully designed book features thought-provoking essays by a distinguished group of nature photographers, cinematographers and scientists. Why We Photograph Animals encourages us to think deeply about the creatures that share our world—and our responsibilities toward them and our planet. Lewis-Jones reminds us that photography can play a role, writing, “With admiration and with art, we raise our cameras as tools of advocacy and action.” 

Why We Photograph Animals encourages us to think deeply about the creatures that share our world—and our responsibilities toward them and our planet.
NonfictionHistoryCultural History

Stowaway

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

“Rat stories are like ghost stories: everybody has one,” writes British author Joe Shute at the start of Stowaway: The Disreputable Exploits of the Rat. Shute’s own original rat story involves going to an alley to watch a ratcatcher and his trained dogs at work. The rats escaped down a sewer, sparing the author the carnage of a rat versus dog encounter. 

Still, it was unsettling. After all, as Shute points out, rats have long loomed as fearsome creatures in our imaginations. “We are obsessed as a society with the notion of rats mustering in the gloom and waiting to invade our lives,” he writes. That’s not surprising, given history. Although it’s now thought that the 14th-century bubonic plague was spread by lice and fleas, rats still shoulder the blame for the death of millions.  

To challenge his own biases and overcome his fears, the author purchased two dumbo rats, Molly and Ermintrude. In the early days of their relationship, Shute walked a “tightrope between disgust and fascination,” but as he continued his “rat therapy,” he was amazed by their social habits and how responsive the rats were to his touch. In fact, Shute interviewed a neuroscientist who, while exploring the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown and the loss of touch on humans, studied—wait for it—how tickling rats impacted their behavior and hormone levels. (Conclusion: Touch helps both humans and rats build resistance against stress.)

One fascinating section delves into how rats help humans in unexpected ways. Shute traveled to Tanzania to learn about Apopo, an organization that trains rats to detect landmines as well as tuberculosis. Magawa, an African giant pouched rat, was awarded a Dickin medal for sniffing out landmines in Cambodia. “Not for the first time,” writes Shute, “rats are cleaning up humanity’s mess.” And, of course, rats have been used since the 1800s in laboratories that study human diseases. That use has accelerated, in part because, as Shute points out, almost all human genes associated with disease have counterparts in the rat genome. 

Stowaway may not be an obvious choice as a gift for a family member who loves animals. But it will undoubtedly be enjoyed. Be prepared, though: You may end up with your own rat experiment. In Shute’s family, Molly and Ermintrude were joined by Aggy and Reyta, forming a rat colony. In getting to know the rat better, Shute did not find a creature with no redeeming qualities, but “empathy, cooperation, mischief, fun, loyalty and resilience.”

In the entertaining Stowaway, Joe Shute explores and exalts the resilient, cooperative, derided and, ultimately, misunderstood rat.
NonfictionTravelPhotographyLifestyles

Project UrbEx

Review by Deborah Hopkinson

Adventure, anyone? While Ikumi Nakamura is best known as a Japanese video game artist and developer with an interest in horror and mystery, she has another fascinating side. As Project UrbEx: Adventures in Ghost Towns, Wastelands and Other Forgotten Worlds reveals, she’s also a fearless, adventurous photographer who has long traveled the world to explore and capture unusual and hidden locations. (For the uninitiated, UrbEx is short for urban exploration, a sometimes-dangerous pastime exploring structures and abandoned ruins in the human-made environment.)

This volume includes images from Nakamura’s explorations in North America, Europe and Asia accompanied by short, evocative essays and captions by Cam Winstanley, written based on interviews with Nakamura. The photos range from an old Italian garment factory, a decaying theme park in Bali nearly overgrown with lush vegetation, and the ruins of military planes baking in the Mojave Desert sun. A few depict Nakamura herself in precarious positions as she attempts to capture a shot.

It is unfortunate that the text is printed in neon orange, which readers may find difficult to read. Otherwise, this beautifully designed book is an intriguing conversation starter that may inspire photographers to undertake their own explorations.

 

In Project UrbEx, photographer Ikumi Nakamura explores and captures unusual and hidden locations throughout the world.

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