Reviews

Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty

theysheshe's review

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my library loan ended, and i couldn’t renew it. i’ve requested another hold, so hopefully i can continue this one later

raendrop's review

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4.0

I picked up this book on a whim and it was such a beautiful surprise. The way this teenage author writes about his experience of neurodivergence, family, and his love of the natural world completely stole my heart and brought be back to my own awe-filled memories of being in nature as a young person. Grateful to Dara McAnulty for sharing his voice with the world and can't wait to see what he does next.

vie_watson's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.75

amyw2's review against another edition

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5.0

An exceptional book.

lauravernon's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

wildreads's review against another edition

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slow-paced

4.0

admacg's review

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4.0

Like a lot of people, I spent a lot of time walking during lockdown, especially through nature. With less traffic on the roads and confined to the local area, I spent a lot of time on the roads, pushing into the surrounding countryside. I also installed a bird feeder in the garden and enjoyed the daily visits from the birds, trying to identify them as they squabbled over the seeds.

I definately felt more tuned into nature, and had a deeper understanding of the surrounding natural world. Nothing though, on the scale of 14 year Dara McAnulty, who wrote this book in the form of diary entries between one spring equinox and the next. As he’s autistic, Dara feels different from the others in his school and he finds refuge in nature, because ‘ 'Wildlife never disappoints like people can. Natura has a purity to me, unaffected.’

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stovallr22's review

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adventurous funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

kodamafriend's review against another edition

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informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

love nature, hate people 

vireogirl's review

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5.0

Beautiful descriptions of nature, stirring calls to climate action, all while explaining and showing how this autistic person sees the world. Took me a bit to adjust to the rhythm but once I did it was an inspiring read.