Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean: Remembering Chinese Scientist Pu Zhelong's Work for Sustainable Farming

The young narrator, a fictional composite, recalls how insect invasions seriously threatened essential rice and lychee harvests in rural 1960s-70s Guangdong, China. The narrator explains that farmers were relying on expensive pesticides, which made people sick and gradually became ineffective, to battle pests. The arrival of Pu Zhelong, a pioneering environmentalist trained in Minnesota, changed the locals' approach. Working with farmers and students, barefoot, Zhelong advocated for natural-predator balance, and health and harvests improved. Clear, detailed text and drawings explain the use of parasitic wasps and silk-moth eggs for biological control; a lucid afterword connects readers to history (and acknowledges that pesticides are still widely used); and a brief bibliography provides additional value. Author and illustrator gracefully convey their expertise. Lyrical yet realistic line-and-color wash illustrations, dominated by rich greens, assure visual appeal. The clever scrapbook conceit might produce some confusion about the narrator's age but allows for the introduction of a dozen decorative and instructive paper-cut Chinese characters. An endpage explains each.

VERDICT Readers interested in environmental science and Chinese history, language, and culture will find an engaging and informative story here.

We spent last summer battling paper wasps. They were making nests in every nook and cranny they could find. My daughter got stung multiple times while playing at her grandparents. The insects were a menace. Never in a million years did I think wasps could be useful. Then I read Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean. I was entertained and educated by the book.

Author Sigrid Schmalzer -- winner of the Joseph Levenson Post-1900 Book Prize for 2018 for her book Red Revolution, Green Revolution -- knows her subject well and that's apparent. Her strength, however, is her ability to make this topic accessible for young readers. While Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean is not overly technical, Schmalzer doesn't shy away from solid information.

Illustrator Melanie Chan builds on Schmalzer's text, providing context and making scientific process easier to understand. Chan's watercolor illustrations transport readers to China, exposing them to a culture that is utterly foreign to many. Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean is a lovely look at how humans both help and harm the environment.

Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean is a fascinating picture book that will appeal to adults as well as children.