Vanishing Treasures

Praise

Praise for Vanishing Treasures:

“[Vanishing Treasures] extolls the marvellous strangeness of, among other species, hedgehogs, giraffes, and swifts . . . Rundell has a great deal of infectious fun with these creatures, and with the line separating fact from fable.”
—The New Yorker

“Already beloved for her children’s books, Rundell writes here for adults who still hold a child’s love for animals. This celebration of seahorses, lemurs, and others doubles as a wake-up call: look around and protect what you love.”
—Boston Globe

“The best writer you’re not reading (yet)… Vanishing Treasures is composed of nearly two dozen hilarious, strange, totally true essays about the natural world that summon real wonder.”
—Chicago Tribune

“[Vanishing Treasures] consists of loving, playful essays about animals that are endangered or hold a subspecies that is endangered: sea horses, lemurs, golden moles and more. It’s pervaded with both wonder and worry, as indeed is much of [Rundell’s] work.”
—Sarah Lyall, The New York Times

“A rare and magical book. I didn’t want it to end.”
—Bill Bryson, bestselling author of The Body and A Walk in the Woods

“Whether she is writing about a jumping spider, a hedgehog, or the curious, pine-cone-like mammals known as a pangolin, Katherine Rundell stuns us with wonders. Each of her essays is a polished gem—and each will leave you newly smitten with love for life.”
—Sy Montgomery, New York Times bestselling author of The Soul of an Octopus

“A compendium of the wonders of the scuttling, flapping, galloping, swimming, and hopping jewels of the world. This charming menagerie features creatures both familiar and strange, whose futures we have imperiled, and Rundell shares their stories with ceaseless curiosity. A book brimming with astonishments and hope.”
—Sabrina Imbler, author of How Far the Light Reaches

“To see the world through Rundell’s eyes is to see it anew. She writes with such wit, wonder, and effervescence, that you can’t help but marvel at every element living creatures on this planet have to offer.”
—Katy Hessel, New York Times bestselling author of The Story of Art Without Men

“This world, even  as we degrade it, remains almost unimaginably beautiful and interesting, as this remarkable bestiary makes clear. Here are a bunch of very very good reasons to actually try and hold on to as much of the Pleistocene as we can.”
—Bill McKibben, author The End of Nature

“A wondrous ode to nature’s astonishing beauty—and an elegy for all the life we are in the midst of destroying.”
—Amia Srinivasan, author of The Right to Sex

“Exquisite and timely.”
—Maggie O’Farrell, author of The Marriage Portrait

“A total miracle.”
—Max Porter, author of Shy

“A loving and lovely book.”
—Sarah Moss, author of Ghost Wall

“Rundell’s book is, on the surface, about animals – but, in reality, it is a pretext for us to learn about ourselves and our relationship with nature. Written in the enchanted, storytelling tone of medieval bestiaries, Vanishing Treasures captures the joy and wonder of wildlife and weaves it into the fabric of human history. A delight to read.”
—Joanna Bagniewska, author of The Modern Bestiary

“A witty, intoxicating paean to Earth’s wondrous creatures . . . shot through with Rundell’s characteristic wit and swagger.”
—The Guardian

“[A] dazzling collection of essays about some of the world’s most wondrous creatures. From the iridescence of the golden mole to parasites in the eye of the Greenland shark, Rundell details the natural world in exquisite prose . . . Rundell’s gift for language, wit and historical observation combine here to create a rare and beautiful book.”
—The Observer

“There is a constant joy in the book . . . A sense throughout of delight and wonder, and a reminder that these emotions also matter—may even save us. This is the point.”
—New Statesman

“Rundell celebrates and mourns the marvelous variety of creatures facing disappearance right now: everyone from the lemur to the sea horse and so many more are brought vividly to life in a desperate hope we might act before it’s too late.”
—Parade.com

“Brisk, eye-opening, thoroughly entertaining . . . Young and old will savor Rundell’s infectious enthusiasm for these remarkable and infinitely varied creatures. A clarion call for preservation by way of a delightful bestiary.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred)

“A poignant survey of animal species whose survival is threatened by humans . . . Rundell approaches her subjects with reverence, as when she writes that blind, iridescent golden moles ‘burrow and breed and hunt, live and die under the African sun, unaware of their beauty, unknowingly glowing.’ Animal lovers will cherish this.”
—Publishers Weekly

“[Rundell] illuminates this collection of essays with fable, legend, myth, and truth stranger than fiction… Although it is a sobering glimpse at the destruction humanity has wrought on other living things, Vanishing Treasures is ultimately an uplifting and inspiring exploration of the wonder left in the world and how humanity can fit within it, and add to its extraordinary quality.”
—Shelf Awareness

Praise for Katherine Rundell:

“Brilliant . . . Supernaturally talented.”
―Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“Rundell is the real deal, a writer of boundless gifts and extraordinary imaginative power.”
—The Observer

“I love Katherine Rundell’s writing because it’s so fresh and vigorous, and always so unexpected . . . A writer with an utterly distinctive voice and a wild imagination.”
—Philip Pullman, author of The Golden Compass

“Rundell [is] a fellow at St. Catherine’s College at Oxford and the latest in that university’s celebrated tradition of scholar-fantasists — C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Philip Pullman. She is a high-spirited evangelist for her various passions. (In no particular order: children’s fiction, Renaissance literature and the natural world.) . . . Opening one of her books is like seeing a missionary on your doorstep — chatty, bright-eyed, zealous. Somehow, Rundell makes you want to invite her in for tea.”
—Sophia Nguyen, The Washington Post

“Rundell is an astonishing young talent.”
—The Daily Mail