©2008 Matthew Trueman
Client: Candlewick Press
Medium: Acrylic & Mixed Media on Paper
Size: various sizes
Use: Children's Book
 

Smithsonian Notable Books for Children 2009
Our annual list of children's books highlights the most fascinating titles published in the past year
One Beetle Too Many: The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin by Kathryn Lasky, illustrated by Matthew Trueman
Transfixed by the mysteries of the natural world, Darwin set off aboard the Beagle in 1831. This account offers a page-turning
survey of the voyage that instigated an intellectual revolution.

Harvard Museum of Natural History
Family Programs
One Beetle Too Many: The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin
Family program and booksigning with Kathryn Lasky and Matthew Trueman
Saturday, February 14, 2:00 pm
Children’s book author Kathryn Lasky and artist Matthew Trueman will take us on an illustrated journey through Charles Darwin’s early years—from his childhood activity of collecting beetles in a local pond
to his historic voyage around South America in search of the wildlife and geology that would form the basis of his theory of evolution. Free with museum admission. Part of Darwin Year Events.

REVIEWS

©2009Booklist on Line
Trueman’s skillful blend of inks, watercolors, pencils, gouache, and collage nicely capture Darwin’s fascination with the natural world, with fanciful scenes of Darwin peering through ferns, exploring islands,
and even riding a giant turtle. With only a quick rundown of the hullabaloo surrounding the publication of The Origin of Species, the focus here is clearly on Darwin’s travels, and this accessible jaunt will easily
situate the man as a natural adventurer in kids’ minds before he becomes just another stuffy old scientist.
— by Ian Chipman

©2009 The Well-Read Child
While Lasky's text is excellent, it is Matthew Trueman's art that makes this book a standout. The illustrations are densely layered and full of texture, with a level of detail that is extraordinary.
The textures and layers use a large number of mediums, and as a read, I found myself wondering how exactly he had created his complicated scenes. In case anyone else is curious about the
process, according to the artist, "the illustrations in this book started out as drawings created with acrylic inks, watercolor, and graphite pencil. I moved up the food chain to add gouache and
colored pencil. After sealing the pictures with acrylic medium, I did my thicker acrylic painting, then fooled around a little more with graphite and colored pencil. Finally, I added the collage
elements, including paper, string, and weeds and wildflowers from my yard and nearby ditches and fields." Trueman uses his mixed mediums to great effect, and the addition of pressed flowers
and plants to his already delightful paintings is especially effective. The very real leaves and branches draw attention to the world of nature that was a focus of Darwin's work, especially in scenes
that show his notebooks and workspaces. They also serve to make the cartoonish people and animals pop off the page. Trueman's people are constantly in motion, especially Darwin himself,
and their action draws the eye immediately. Darwin ages over the course of the book, and I was delighted by the changes to his hair on almost every page.by Laura Koenig

©2008 School Library Journal
Gr 3-6
Starred Review
Large and humorous mixed-media illustrations will draw children to this large-format biography. Using watercolor, graphite pencil, gouache, acrylic ink, colored pencil, and collage, Trueman captures Darwin's world and
adventures. Cartoonlike people have prominent noses, expressive faces, and enormous hands. Throughout, the naturalist appears to be both curious and hapless, a description he might have given himself in his own modest
journals. Lasky's text balances the exuberant artwork with well-organized information, gracefully sprinkling in quotes from Darwin's own writing. Touching briefly on his childhood, the text devotes most of the space to
Darwin's years on the Beagle , explaining how his discoveries in geology, paleontology, and animal anatomy on that trip led to his theory about evolution. Lasky uses Darwin's own words to show that he questioned the
literal nature of the Bible and the divinity of Jesus, but that he wrote several times praising God as the Creator. Although the text is brief, it creates a clear view of a man who was troubled by the implications of his
observations and who, at the end of his life, was more interested in experimenting with earthworms and carnivorous plants than in promoting his theory.-Ellen Heath, Easton Area Public Library, Easton, PA

©2008 Publishers Weekly, 12/15/2008
Happy 200th Birthday, Mr. Darwin!
The bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth on February 12, 2009 (yes, the same day as Lincoln's) has not escaped publishers.
One Beetle Too Many: The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin Kathryn Lasky, illus. by Matthew Trueman. Candlewick, $17.99 (48p) ISBN 978-0-7636-1436-2
Starred Review
Distilling tough concepts into light, conversational prose, Lasky (John Muir) gives middle-graders a just-right introduction to Charles Darwin. In colorful, cut-to-the-chase language
( “He found anatomy class disgusting, and he once rushed out of an operating room, unable to stand the sight of blood”), she highlights Darwin's insatiable curiosity, his failures at
school and his voyage aboard the Beagle. The author invites readers to follow Darwin's reasoning and the questions that led up to his theory of evolution. Taking advantage of the large trim size,
Trueman (Noah's Mittens) up-ends perspective with multilayered mixed-media illustrations; mostly paint, these also incorporate bits of flowers and weeds as well as string, paper and fabric.
Like the text, they aim for a homely, friendly style, as when young Darwin and his brother are shown gleefully exploding things in their homemade lab. Highly accessible. Ages 7–12. (Jan.)

©2009Chicago Tribune
In "One Beetle Too Many," Lasky and Trueman emphasize Darwin's "extraordinary adventures," the fun, the pleasure he took in observing wherever he was. Readers younger than Heiligman's t
arget group will be more likely to remember the pictures of Darwin pounding across the pampas of Argentina with horsemen called gauchos (depicting a land excursion during the Beagle voyage).
Chicago Tribune, 1/3/09 (circ. 409,962) By Mary Harris Russell

©2009inkrethink.blogspot.
” Matthew Trueman’s illustrations in mixed-media (the media including weeds and wildflowers) are to drool over (Candlewick, ages 9-12).
http://inkrethink.blogspot.com/

©2009commonsensemedia
The artwork is equally extraordinary. Done in several layers, each illustration truly captures the intrigue and mystery of the natural world. Trueman began each one with a sensitive ink and watercolor drawing, added to it first
with gouache and colored pencil, then a layer of acrylic painting. Finally, after a bit more graphite and colored pencil, he added subtle touches of paper, string, weeds, wildflowers, and other collage elements he gathered
in the world around him. Amazing! The result is a book that is the perfect celebration of Darwin's bicentennial anniversary, and one that all readers, especially the naturalists, certainly will treasure.
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/

©2009planetesme
" For all the fascinating details, the artwork is really the scene stealer; the slick, even flow and strangely alluring depth of the illustrations might lead one to believe they were computer generated,
but it was really done with graphite pencil, ink, watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, acrylics and collage with paper, string, weeds and wildflowers, and the effect is stylistically distinct and nothing
short of beautiful." ©2009 Esme Raji Codell
http://planetesme.blogspot.com

©2009Just One More Book,January 9,2009
...t.he book is gorgeous and totally fun, even funny. The illustratons are beautiful, beautiful, so full of color, edge to edge colors and collages. The expression on people's face and the huge hands..I love the facial hair, it is very different.
...Tons of humor and beautiful scenery...there are so many details but it remains light...kids love little details. The magic of this book s that it gets you excited about non-fiction.
http://www.justonemorebook.com/2009/01/09/of-curiosity-and-creationism-one-beetle-too-many-the-extraordinary-adventures-of-charles-darwin/

©2008 Shelf Awareness
Children's Book Review: One Beetle Too  Many
One Beetle Too Many: The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles  Darwin by Kathryn Lasky, illustrated by Matthew Trueman (Candlewick,  17.99,
9780763614362/076361436X, 48 pp., ages 9-12, January  2009)
The Origin of the Species will  celebrate its 150th anniversary of publication on November 24, 2009. Would  Charles Darwin be surprised to discover that there may well be as much  debate now as there was during his lifetime
concerning his theory of  evolution versus creationism?
Lasky (Sugaring Time) suggests that  Darwin himself was anxious about how his theory would be received: "Very  often when he thought or began to write about how species changed over  time, his stomach problems would become worse."
If not for a rival  naturalist, Darwin may have kept his most probing ideas to himself. Lasky  begins, however, with a depiction of young Charles (whose 200th birthday  is next February 12, as is Abraham Lincoln's), instinctively curious, who
loves to collect things, especially beetles. Trueman (Chickens on  Strike) captures the moment when Charles, with a beetle in each hand,  two of a sort that he'd never seen before, discovers a "third strange  beetle .. . and . . . lacking a free hand,
quickly popped one beetle into  his mouth and scooped up the third one." The illustration strikes a commendable balance between the comical situation and the boy's passion  for science (his various collections in evidence).
Throughout, the author  and artist leaven Darwin's serious work with such humorous touches. Young  Charles earned the nickname "Gas," for instance, because of his activities  with his brother in the laboratory ("Explosions were their favorite  things").
Trueman depicts Charles holding at arm's length a test tube  erupting into flames as his brother shields himself with his  arms.
Lasky and Trueman devote much of the book to Darwin's  pivotal voyage on the Beagle, but they break up the discoveries  into manageable sections of one to three spreads. The artwork offers  breathtaking views of foreign landscapes and close-ups
of exotic  creatures; and Darwin's sketches of various finches he discovered on his  travels through the Galápagos Islands demonstrates the birds' subtle  differences from island to island--observations that figured prominently  in the foundation of
Darwin's ideas on natural selection. Readers may also  be intrigued to discover that Charles's father had sent him off at one  point to become a clergyman, and that Charles did not believe his  scientific theory was at odds with his belief in God:
Charles "felt that  his notions did not disprove God in the least but in fact made God more  powerful." Lasky and Trueman arrive at quite an achievement here: They  take Darwin's sophisticated ideas and make them accessible to readers  young
and old--through humor and simplicity of language; and, by  suggesting that Darwin felt there was room for God in his theory, they set  a foundation for a lively discussion of evolution and creationism--does  one rule out the other?
Or can they co-exist? Most of all, this  intelligently and elegantly designed volume makes clear how much Darwin's  ideas continue to create an impact on science, society and culture, a  century and a half later.--Jennifer M.  Brown

From the Publisher
A lively text and captivating images tell the story of the ever-curious boy who grew up to make one of the most significant discoveries of our time.
From the time Charles Darwin was a boy, he was happiest when he was out alone collecting specimens (especially beetles). And despite his father's efforts to turn young Darwin — a poor student — into a doctor or clergyman,
the born naturalist jumped instead at the chance to sail around South America, observing and collecting flora and fauna all the way. In a clear, engaging narration, Kathryn Lasky takes readers along on Darwin's journey, from
his discovery of seashells on mountaintops that revealed geological changes to his observations of variations in plants and animals, suggesting that all living things are evolving over time. Matthew Trueman's striking mixed-media
illustrations include actual objects found in nature, enhancing this compelling look at the man behind the bold theory that would change the way we think about the world — and ourselves.