Hares & Trains

Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton (Memoir)

After finishing this remarkable book I've been in a slump for several days.  I think I'm experiencing some kind of book grief.  I was so fully immersed in this book, coming out of it was like closing a world I had gotten so comfortable living in.

What I appreciated most about Chloe Dalton's unique journey is that she did something I haven't really seen before in the animal memoirs I've read.  She didn't forever keep the animal.  The hare wasn't injured, so there was no need to keep it.  But Chloe also didn't just shut the door on the hare once the hare started to leave for extended periods of time.  Chloe did the opposite.  She put in a hare door so that the hare could always come inside whenever it wanted to.  

Because Chloe didn't turn the hare into a pet but also didn't put up a clear division between the wild beyond her garden and the safety of her house, it created this strange world that gave the reader an opportunity to truly experience the magic of living alongside a wild animal.

Aiding this experience are Chloe's observations, all the sacrifices she made for the hare, and the strength of their bond.

I took many notes but will share a few:

* I loved that Chloe discovered what to feed the hare through a poem written in the 1700's.

* Each time Chloe talks about the care she takes to live alongside the hare is incredible:

"As time went by, I went to increasing lengths not to disturb it as it slept in the house. It would not have been the end of the world to startle it, but the sight of a hare asleep at the foot of the stairs was so captivating and improbable that it seemed no trouble to accommodate it."

The first moment the hare takes off on its own:

"All the features I'd admired up close - the blunt tips of its ears, and its rough, crosshatched pelt of many colours - served to conceal it.  The field developed and reclaimed it."

And after going through all the emotions of watching the hare leave, <i>so  many emotions</i>, Chloe describes the hare coming back:

"But just before dusk, the leveret appeared in the open gateway, a slender silhouette against the tall wooden posts, its ears raised to the fullest extent as it listened intently, so that it seemed more ear than hare. For what felt like an age, it waited at the very edge of the divide between the two worlds, and then slipped into the house."

I won't give away much more than that or how the ending also makes this book a gem.  But I will share one more thing.  Chloe raises several important questions towards the end, questions that have the potential to change the world.  The reader weaves in and out of these questions with Chloe, feeling  all the pangs from the silence on the other side of these questions.

"If it is possible to create robots and drones to reap our fields for us, could we not use technology to detect the presence of leverets, and fawns, and nesting birds, and could reasonable efforts not be made to relocate them, rather than simply leaving them to be crushed beneath our machines?"

Big Boy 4014 and the Steam Team by Marsha Diane Arnold & Adam Gustavson (Nonfiction Picture Book)

This special book manages to provide interesting details and not be too wordy at the same time. The best spread for me is where the steam team has Big Boy 4014 on a turntable to take a look and a splendid paragraph about taking the train apart - "Test those bolts. Check those rivets. Grab the torches. Grab the welders. All new valves. All new pistons." It's such a delight to read.

I'm not sure if anyone else does this, but when I read important dates I think about family members who were alive or would have witnessed these big moments in history. For example, the author's note tells readers that Big Boys were built between 1941-1944. My maternal grandparents were teens and my dad was a toddler during this time. The Big Boy featured in this book was taken out of service in 1959, which is the year my mom was born. It really adds perspective when I think about historical events this way.

I enjoyed learning more about the Big Boys and the steam team's journey to not only get one up and running again, but the months of research that went into preparing Big Boy 4014 to go on tours and be enjoyed by many people. The illustrations are completely harmonious with the story. The majesty of Big Boy 4014 is brought to life from several different angles with so much depth and rich colors. The crowds enjoying Big Boy 4014 are so well done too! I read through this book several times - the first time to enjoy both the story and the Author's Note, the second time with my husband, who is a train nerd, and a handful of times to enjoy the illustrations. It's a tough book to give back to the library!