Listening to Crickets: A Story About Rachel Carson Book

Rachel Carson combined her gift of writing with her love of nature to change how the world viewed DDT. Through commitment and persistence, she entered a world where few women tread. Carson provides an excellent role model for children to broaden their views on future careers.

School Library Journal

Gr 3-4-- This fluid account of Carson's life brings out the warmth of her personality and her passion for learning. It describes her love of nature and her compassion for the sea. Readers are made aware of the difficulties of the Depression and of being a female marine biologist in the early '50s. The subject's success as a science writer and the impact of The Silent Spring in bringing about controls over the use of pesticides are well stated. The book is illustrated with full-page black-and-white illustrations, which do little more than break up the text. Eve Stwertka's Rachel Carson (Watts, 1991), Judith Harlan's Rachel Carson (Dillon, 1989), and Jake Goldburg's Rachel Carson (Chelsea, 1991) are all for slightly older audiences. Listening to Crickets is an adequate addition to fulfill biography assignments. --Beth Irish, Orange Public Library, CA