Book Review
“The Observologist”, written and illustrated by Giselle Clarkson. Published by Gecko Press, price $39.99. Reviewed by Tony Orman.
The Observologist” is a highly illustrated, fun-filled guide for young budding naturalists and that has to be great intention in encouraging youngsters to get out in the outdoors instead of being slaves to the mobile phone, internet and television. But the book goes well beyond just inspiring youngsters into the outdoors and observing nature. Adults in general, could do with a dose too.
Did you know toadstools and mushrooms are one and the same? Or that many insects have compound eyes that can see backwards and forwards at the same time? That earthworms can feel pleasure and pain? Many adults need to develop curiosity and exploration the natural world around them.
This book in encouraging kids to go investigating and observing Nature’s creatures is tailor-made for parent and child to do so together in a sort of scientific research project. Giselle Clarkson has set it out in comic book style making it immediately appealing to young minds. Yet it will introduce readers, of all ages, to the world about them.
The authors text is written with humour, encouraging the fun and enjoyment reaction from the young reader.
This book is an antidote to boredom that may invade young minds, an invitation to put aside the digital gadgetry and to go out and observe the natural world with curiosity to the fore.
The book has a sensitive touch, such as imparting advice on carefully handling earthworms or how to help an exhausted honey bee or bumble bee.
The author herself a confessed observologist with “an insatiable curiosity for tiny creatures” and was encouraged by her parents to go “gently poking around under rocks and logs”.
“Watching insects and looking for other tiny interesting things genuinely is one of my favourite hobbies,’ she says. “I hope my book gets children started or encourages them further, on a lifelong interest in the natural sciences.. When you’re an observologist, you can always marvel at the cleverness of a spider’s work or be delighted by the patterns in a moth’s wing and a bit of everyday joy and wonder is something we can all use.”
“I think being a conservationist starts when you feel a personal connection to a plant or an animal or a place., and observing the quiet magnificence of a spider, a moth or dragonfly is a wonderful way to building that relationship with nature.”
The book should be introduced to every youngster and perhaps could be a standard primary school textbook?
Highly recommended for every family, adults and kids together.
Sounds like a gem of a book. These days, kids spend much more (too much?) time inside, mostly due to technology. Spending time outdoors isn’t just enjoyable — it’s also necessary. Researchers agree that kids who play outside are happier, better at paying attention and less anxious than kids who spend more time indoors
It’s not only the kids that are on their devices you don’t have to look far when socialising the number of adults playing with their cell phones.
Yes it’s recognised as a big problem so much so that kids spending too much time indoors has become so extreme that the crisis has a name given it by the “head shrinks” – Nature deficit disorder. NDD.