When Nezhukumatathil moves to Oxford, Mississippi, to teach at the university, she expects to need the catalpa tree to provide shelter from people’s curiosity about her brown skin. The catalpa tree offered shade for Nezhukumatathil and her sister as they walked from their home in Kansas to the hospital where their mother worked.

That childhood connection to nature echoes through her adulthood, where plants and animals connect Nezhukumatathil’s present to her past. No matter their ZIP code, Nezhukumatathil followed her curiosity and found a home in the natural world. As their family moved across the country, her parents encouraged their daughters to experience the outdoors. We live in Ah-mer-i-kah!” the teacher declared after spotting Nezhukumatathil’s drawing.īoth of Nezhukumatathil’s parents are immigrants (her mother is from the Philippines), and throughout World of Wonders, she describes the foundation they laid for her and her sister. “Some of us will have to start over and draw American animals. She had just returned from southern India, her father’s native country, and she was elated by its colorful animals. In third grade, for example, Nezhukumatathil drew a peacock, her favorite animal, for the class animal-drawing contest. Nezhukumatathil’s delight in the world isn’t dulled by the world’s racism, but she doesn’t shy away from sharing her experiences of being on the receiving end of discrimination.

In her first nonfiction work, World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments, Nezhukumatathil expands her reflections into essays accompanied by illustrations by Fumi Nakamura. Poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s writing often praises the earth and its bounty.

Aimee world of wonders