World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments

The title of World of Wonders reflects its primary goal: to examine, celebrate, and share a sense of wonder for the natural world. Nezhukumatathil achieves this goal both literally and stylistically—reflecting on stories of her own growth and development of wonder while describing the natural world with poetic reverence and eloquence.

Nezhukumatathil is a poet. Just as much as World of Wonders is about her and her stories, it is a display of vivid language and a compendium of unique natural phenomena. Every chapter contains a vivid description of its titular organism. The touch-me-not has “delightful pinnation, [a] double-leaf pattern feathering outward then inward from both sides of a single stem, and [...] spherical lavender-pink flowers” (25). The bird of paradise boasts “one of the showiest displays in the entire animal kingdom. Iridescent blue feathers on the superb’s head flash extra blue as they catch the sun, little eyes against the black oval of its nape” (134). For Nezhukumatathil, these descriptions aren’t just important, they’re the main event. She is concerned with sharing her sense of wonder, and she does this by indulging the reader with expressive, colorful descriptions of nature.

Unusual and superlative aspects of particular species also pique Nezhukumatathil’s interest, and she includes them to further convince readers of the wonders of nature.