By Christine MacIntyre
World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments is a pleasant read from cover to cover. The lighthearted prose of celebrated poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil reads like a picturesque spring day—a soft breeze, sunlight warming the earth after a long winter, and scents of growth and new beginnings.
Nezhukumatathil’s observations of some of the world’s astonishments, primarily through the lens of a younger version of herself, provide readers with little-known details of each curiosity. Her rendition of how these curiosity’s guided her and provided clarity to her life are interesting. Each chapter highlights a different creature, flower, or plant as she examines the beauty of all living things. Further, she derives meaning and value from each wonder she describes—animated but not to the point of delusional or impractical. By the book’s end, optimism bloomed as I found myself subconsciously observing my surroundings, questioning, What can this teach me in terms of my own life?
From the first chapter, Catalpa Tree, Nezhukumatathil utilizes her knack for analogy and metaphor to create a vivid picture in readers’ minds, placing the reader in the shadows of the catalpa trees of the south. Recollections from her childhood embody the many landscapes in which she lived, spanning the grounds of a Kansas mental institution where her Filipina mother was a doctor, the open plains of Arizona, and the startling cold climates of rural western New York and Ohio. As with any childhood experience, her life was not without awkward situations, drama, mishaps, tears, fears, and, of course, wonder. Yet, as her roots transplant from place to place, she absorbed her surroundings, finding beauty and kinship in some surprising places.
Nezhukumatathil contemplates her parents’ influence on her with the wise voice of someone with a firm grasp on the things in life that truly matter—someone who, as a “brown girl” surrounded by white ones, enjoyed “extravagances” such as the occasional Little Debbie brownie shared with her sister. Her mother’s confidence shaped and molded her, transforming the once shy, nervous sixth-grader, the girl who looked to the colossal catalpa (a steadfast fixture rooted in her life) to shield her and provide anonymity when she desired it most.
World of Wonders encompasses a harmonious blend of informative and inspirational prose. In just 165 pages, Nezhukumatathil captures the jovial nonchalance of childhood, seamlessly tying in the slights of becoming—of growing up. Her impressionable mind absorbed the world’s delights, even in the face of the more poignant aspects inherent in learning to cope in an often-intimidating world.
True to form throughout the book, Nezhukumatathil ‘s tone is earnest and light while savoring the fun, quirky facts of creatures, such as how narwhals see through sound or an axolotl’s wide smile. These facts are woven flawlessly into her childhood, often conjuring up a sense of nostalgia as readers reflect on their childhoods and the wonders they may have overlooked or taken for granted. Yet, at the same time, the book is a beacon of hope for the rest of us—it’s never too late to learn to appreciate the beauty surrounding us.
Through lyrical and warmly written details of tender, precious moments from her past, Nezhukumatathil paints a picture for readers entrenched with profound beauty and feeling to which many people can relate. One passage reads, “…through all the electric and fragrant greens, the spray and the shine of the wild bursts of fruit, the messy blood-red days and the stench and the stink too – this finally was a man who’d never flinch, never leave my side when things were messy, or if he was introduced to something new. This was a man who’d be happy when I bloomed.” Through her reflective use of words, she proficiently describes the power of feeling supported and loved as we evolve, journeying toward full bloom like the revered Corpse Flower.
Another chapter demonstrates how a bold shade of candy apple red lipstick is symbolic in her life. In junior high, she longed to feel a sense of belonging and fit in. She writes, “But even from that brief application, you fell in love with and slightly feared that slash of red, a cardinal out of the corner of your eye, lending definition to the outline of your mouth. A mouth that was used to speaking only when called upon.”
Nezhukumatathil considers what it would be like to be a vampire squid as she bore the status of “new girl” again and again, especially in high school when the desire to chase away predators seems like a matter of life or death. The essays walk readers through the point in her life when she emerged from the shadows where that shy, unsure girl once dwelled in solitude. She reflects on wiggling out of a dark time in her life, moving on from trying to disappear to stepping into her own being, her own existence. “I was figuring out the delight and pop of music and the electricity on my tongue when I read out loud. I was at the surface again,” she writes.
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In retrospect, Nezhukumatathil shows readers how and why she appreciates and is grateful for all her experiences, even those spent seemingly friendless and uncertain of herself. At one point in the text, she describes how her “shadow year” helped her become the kind of woman who would eventually understand and relate with her students and check in with and be present with her sons as they navigate their youth.
Always enamored by the outdoors, Nezhukumatathil says she felt most seen in her childhood “in forests or fields, by lake or ocean.” However, she does more than tell us; she shows us through text such as, “I learned how to be still from watching birds. If I wanted to see them, I had to mimic their stillness, to move slow in a world that wishes us brown girls to be fast.” Further, she shows us how her passion for the outdoors guided her into becoming and belonging in the world. “And just like the potoo, who is rewarded for her stillness… perhaps you could try a little tranquility, find a little tenderness in your quiet.”
Even in marriage, Nezhukumatathil derives meaning from creatures such as the bonnet macaque, who taught her to let “laughter be from a place of love.” With pragmatism, she considers how her husband and her learning to navigate the wild jungle of south India, surrounded by laughing monkeys and a language foreign to their tongues, is much like learning to navigate the early days of marriage. “…to keep laughing in love. To make my love laugh.”
Fumi Mini Nakamura’s illustrations highlight the wonders that Nezhukumatathil explores throughout the book, complementing the tone and voice appropriately. The gorgeous, whimsical renditions of the ribbon eel, Touch-Me-Nots, and whale sharks, to name a few, gives the book sustenance without distracting from the compilation of essays and the lessons they have to offer readers.
Whether used as a noun or verb, a feeling or desire, wonder requires that we are curious enough to look past the distractions and fully appreciate the world’s gifts. It requires us to Learn how to survive no matter the environment, how to smile in the face of adversity, and shake off the strange and less-than-lovely aspects of life…to notice unpleasantries without letting them dictate or control who we are as a person.
The essays enclosed in World of Wonders awaken readers’ senses, allowing them, too, to witness the admirable traits and valuable lessons derived from even the most unlikely of sources, like the comb jelly or dragon fruit, dancing frog or even a red-spotted newt.
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