anna_ealasaid reviewed Golden Mole by Katherine Rundell
The Golden Mole
4 stars
An enchanting wee book to pick up and put down again, with a short chapter for each animal, plus beautiful illustrations. Lots of interesting and bizarre facts, though more from the history of human relations with the creatures covered than actual zoology. The 'vanishing treasure' of the subtitle expresses the sadness and anger that thrums throughout. I got this book as a physical book about nature that I could manage to read while grappling with my small daughter. She absolutely loved the folding cover and the pictures, to the extent that it was impossible to actually read while she was around. Still, we would look at it together, her tiny index finger pointing at the encircled golden creatures while I said their names 'lemurs', 'wolf', 'hermit crab', 'hare' (she strokes her head at this), 'seal', 'swift', 'Greenland shark'. A litany of delight and loss. My eyes prickle with tears at …
An enchanting wee book to pick up and put down again, with a short chapter for each animal, plus beautiful illustrations. Lots of interesting and bizarre facts, though more from the history of human relations with the creatures covered than actual zoology. The 'vanishing treasure' of the subtitle expresses the sadness and anger that thrums throughout. I got this book as a physical book about nature that I could manage to read while grappling with my small daughter. She absolutely loved the folding cover and the pictures, to the extent that it was impossible to actually read while she was around. Still, we would look at it together, her tiny index finger pointing at the encircled golden creatures while I said their names 'lemurs', 'wolf', 'hermit crab', 'hare' (she strokes her head at this), 'seal', 'swift', 'Greenland shark'. A litany of delight and loss. My eyes prickle with tears at the realisation I am doing all this work to nurture in her a love of a natural world being ever degraded, of species that may well no longer exist by the time she comes into adulthood, and my heart breaks anew.
