
©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.
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