In The Wondrous Journals of Dr. Wendell Wellington Wiggins Lesley M. M. Blume and illustrator David Foote bring together exploration, action, fantastic creatures and some wry reflections on the human race.
Lost for more than 100 years, the detailed journals from one of England’s most famous paleozoologists, Dr. Wendell Wiggins, have finally surfaced for all the world to see. In 1850, an adventure-hungry young man embarks on an around-the-world journey to: “seek the remains of [the world’s] most ancient creatures, to learn their ways and their fates. In doing so, I hope to learn more about ourselves – and what our own future might look like. And if this fact-finding mission takes up my entire life, I shall consider it a life well lived.” Indeed, Dr. Wiggins spent his entire adult life scouring the globe and through luck, wits, perseverance, and some intuitive detective work on the part of his most unusual pet and longtime companion Gibear, discovers a wide variety of curious, fascinating, sometimes gruesome and seemingly impossible creatures. Dr. Wiggins records both the nature and the lifestyle of oddities such as the deadly Amazonian Whispering Vine (Vitus Sussurus), the curious tribe of Brittle Bones (Futilis Ossis), a rather gaseous northern-lights creature (Animato Inflatio ab Aqulonius), noting with a scientific detachment sprinkled with a healthy dose of English superiority, how each of these creatures own foolishness brought it to extinction. Perhaps, one hopes, as Dr. Wiggins’ journal is more widely studied, the lessons of each of these fantastic creatures’ demise can shed a light on humanity’s own foibles, weaknesses and seemingly inevitable slide to our own destruction.
Whether intentional or not, The Wondrous Journals of Dr. Wendell Wellington Wiggins is a great bridge into Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. Sharing a similar premise of voyage and discovery, a curious (and somewhat pompous) explorer, and a healthy dose of commentary about his fellow man, The Wondrous Journals bring all the best elements of Gulliver’s Travels to younger audience in a much more accessible manner. Foote’s pen and ink illustrations bring every strange, hideous, and wonderful creature Dr. Wiggins encounters to life, which puts this work over the top on the interest/cool scale, making it almost irresistible to readers who like tales of the curious and gruesome. Combining the rich illustrations with short chapters and the formulaic nature of each discovery makes for a breezy, easy, and interesting read.
- Posted by Cori