OCEAN BOOK OF THE MONTH

Ocean Book of the Month

Every month, The Ocean Project highlights a book focused on our blue planet or environmental sustainability. Books for all age groups will be covered, non-fiction and fiction, prose and poetry. If you have a suggestion, please let us know.

Book of the Month

A Sense of Wonder

by Rachel Carson


In 1965, Rachel Carson wrote:

"I sincerely believe that for the child, and for the parent seeking to guide him, it is not half so important to know as to feel. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. The years of early childhood are the time to prepare the soil. Once the emotions have been aroused — a sense of the beautiful, the excitement of the new and the unknown, a feeling of sympathy, pity, admiration or love — then we wish for knowledge about the subject of our emotional response. Once found, it has lasting meaning. It is more important to pave the way for the child to want to know than to put him on a diet of facts he is not ready to assimilate."
What better way to Celebrate the spirit of the holidays than to celebrate nature and all the gifts nature provides us — in all seasons. In A Sense of Wonder, Rachel Carson connects us to that sense of awe we are all born with when exploring the world around us for the first time. First published more than four decades ago, this reissue of Rachel Carson's award-winning classic brings her unique vision to a new generation of readers. Stunning new photographs by Nick Kelsh beautifully complement Carson's intimate account of adventures with her young nephew, Roger, as they enjoy walks along the rocky coast of Maine and through dense forests and open fields, observing wildlife, strange plants, moonlight and storm clouds, and listening to the "living music" of insects in the underbrush.

Reconnect yourself so you can help future generations reconnect with the astonishing variety of life they can experience on a simple walk in nature.

  • Find out how you can help do more at the Seas the Day action pages.

  • Read more of Rachel Carson's writings which abound on the Web.

  • Check out the A Sense of Wonder Film website.

  • If you are interested in reading this book but also want to be a conscious consumer, please visit your local library and check it out.

  • If you're interested in purchasing this book, and then perhaps passing it along to a friend to spread the word, we encourage you to buy locally and from an independent bookseller. Please click on one of the two logos below to purchase a good read and help The Ocean Project.

    [For any purchase you make online by linking directly from this website to either the legendary independent bookseller, Powell's, or an independent bookstore in your community participating with Book Sense (if the latter, they will prompt you for your zip code to find the closest participating bookstore), a small commission will be sent to The Ocean Project to help us continue our nonprofit educational mission, thanks to you!]



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  • If you have any suggestions for a future "Ocean Book of the Month", please let us know. Send us your favorite recent or not-so-recent read so we can share it with all!