Rachel Carson - searching for wonder

Portus, Rosamund

Abstract

Rachel Carson is one of the most famed environmentalists of the twentieth century who, in 1962, published her seminal book Silent Spring. Exposing the damaging effects of insecticides, Carson’s writing sparked an environmental movement which continues to this day (Murphy, 2005; Griswold, 2012). Yet, Carson’s interests were not confined to exposing environmental harm. Some years prior to the publication of Silent Spring, in 1956, Carson penned an article exploring how children relate to the natural world, later published as the book The Sense of Wonder: A Celebration of Nature for Parents and Children. This work considered the need for children to connect with the natural world through fun and adventure. In Carson’s world of play and imagination lichens become fairylands, rocks become diamonds, and the wind becomes a ‘manychorused voice’.

• Online Publication Date: Jun 6, 2023
• Publication Date: Jun 6, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jun 12, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 13, 2023
• Pages: 23
• Book Title: Inspirationally Playful: People, papers and practices that have inspired play practitioners and researchers
• ISBN: 978-1-914188-09-1
• Keywords: Play practitioners; play practitioner
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10860761
• Publisher URL: https://www.playscotland.org/resources/inspirationally-playful/