We were at the beach, which was oh so wonderful, with our excellent across-the-street neighbors. (Yes, I could just say neighbors, but it feels wrong.) We spent a few hours bobbing the waves, because that's kind of the thing that I love in the world, and then we sat on towels. The conversation worked itself around to what everyone was reading, and it turned out our across-the-street neighbor was reading this:
How was it? She said it was awesome—compulsively interesting. It turns out that this is exactly her type of book: something that looks at science from a cultural perspective. I was mostly struck by the fact that it's the type of book I would never choose for myself.
BUT. When we were talking about these types of books—this whole cultural histories of scientific phenomena—Chestnut cried out, "But that's the kind of book I like! And there's hardly any books like that for kids."
Is this true? I mean, I don't know anything like this for kids. I think Muse magazine does a pretty good job about talking about compelling nonfiction and scientific concepts. But books? I don't know. There are a slew of books about the Titanic, and there are all those technical books, then list-y books, but cultural history? Nothing comes to mind.
Myself, I tend to be a predominantly fiction-reading person. But Chestnut made me think. When I've ventured forth into the nonfiction world, it's been pretty cool, really. It's good to be reminded that there is a wider world out there. But I wish it were there for her, too. Or maybe it is, and I just don't know it? Do you?
