In honor of Earth Day, we asked authors to tell us about the books that influenced their relationships with the natural world. These are their responses (lightly edited for style).
1. Paolo Bacigalupi, author of ‘The Windup Girl’ and ‘The Water Knife’
Without question, “The Wump World,” by Bill Peet. I was around 7 years old when I first read it. I don’t know how it came into my possession. I remember it as a plain green hardback, which I assume means the cover flap had been lost. I assume it must have been a gift from a grandparent. It’s a beautifully illustrated picture book about these sweet critters called wumps that sleep under the bumbershoot trees, drink from clear streams, bathe in crystalline lakes, eat nice green grass, and mostly mind their own business. Then one day spaceships blaze down out of the sky. Out of the rocket ships pour a bunch of little blue people unsubtly named Pollutants. These wacky blue guys proceed to happily dig up the grass, chop down the trees, pave the planet and build massive cities. The wumps are driven underground into caves to wait out the apocalypse grinding over their heads. In the end, the Pollutants clog the rivers with garbage, choke the skies with smoke — and then get angry about how crummy it is. So they bail to find another planet to do it all over again (Mars, anyone?). The wumps emerge to discover a shattered world. Slowly the Wump World starts to heal. But it’s never quite the same.
