Searching for Sunshine: Finding Connections with Plants, Parks, and the People Who Love Them

by Ishita Jain, Wendy MacNaughton (Illustrator)

Overview

When Ishita Jain relocated to the visually overwhelming and concrete-filled New York City from New Delhi, India, she found solace in parks and gardens and started thinking about how important these places are to city residents' sense of peace. In Searching for Sunshine, Jain follows her curiosity and creativity to provide a vibrant compilation of essays, illustrations, and interviews centered around the simple yet compelling theme of why and how plants and green spaces create such meaning for us.

Whether living in a setting that is urban, rural, or somewhere in between, everyone can find enjoyment in the beautiful illustrations and stories gathered here. Featuring conversations with experts and plant-lovers alike, including scientists at the New York Botanical Gardens, groundskeepers at the famed Green-Wood Cemetery, shoppers at the beloved Union Square Greenmarket, a director of NYC Parklands, a florist, and more, Jain's exploration of plants and parks in New York City demonstrates how nature is vital to all experiences of our lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781797224176
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	04/11/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	877,371
File size:	172 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Ishita Jain is an illustrator in New York City, originally hailing from New Delhi. She is an alumnus of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, and received an MFA from the School of Visual Arts, New York. She loves to draw on location and enjoys documenting the people, places, and stories that surround her. She writes and draws books for adults and children and her illustrations have appeared in the New York Times as well as in campaigns with Sephora and Link NYC.

Editorial Reviews

"This book gave me the reminder I need—that even in a city of concrete, we can all find ways to connect with plants and get our hands dirty. For me, a New Yorker, tree-hugger, people-person, and art-appreciator, this book is everything I love, all in one.”
– Julia Rothman, illustrator of the Scratch column, The New York Times

"Searching for Sunshine is an environmental delight. It’s a reminder of the interconnectedness of the land and all living organisms on earth—and the beauty of exploring our own connections to what made us fall in love with all that Mother Earth has to offer.”
– Leah Thomas, author of The Intersectional Environmentalist

From the Publisher

04/01/2023

With text and vibrant images, illustrator and designer Jain (Under the Cosmos) explores how a variety of people experience working with plants and how nature affects their lives and happiness. In addition to sharing her own life experiences with nature as a child in India and in New York City, where she lives now, she also interviews botanists, horticulturists, a city planner, a florist, a forager, an herbalist, a formerly incarcerated person, an entomologist, an ethnobotanist, a curator of a design museum, the CEO of an online plant-subscription service, and visitors to New York's Union Square Greenmarket, all of whom share insights and opinions about their professional roles and nature. Jain illustrates these interviews with her own paintings, which include portraits of the interviewees and images of them at work, plus depictions of landscapes, plants, and scientific specimens, often made on location. VERDICT A charming, fascinating look at a range of jobs and the ways people can experience nature in a city. The beautiful, vividly colored illustrations will likely appeal to nature- and art-lovers, city-dwellers interested in the outdoors, and artists.—Sue O'Brien

Library Journal