《我与自然的一年》是一本前所未见的年历，结合了科学和美学，是对生物非凡多样性与其恒久美丽的日常肯定。这本奇特的白日梦日志，结合了爬虫学家与自然史作家Marty Crump的文字加上Bronwyn McIvor丰富细致的原创插图，贯彻空间与时间，适时适地的赞颂自然，内容涵盖美国国家公园管理局的发现到每年的草莓季、蒜头季、虾子季、蜂鸟季和黑熊季。
Crump这本书堪称经典，就像是瑞秋·卡森于1962年出版的《寂静的春天》与E·B·怀特在1952年所写的《夏绿蒂特的网》，甚至是柴可夫斯基的芭蕾舞剧《天鹅湖》首演。书中提及了几个重大发现，像是DNA的结构和山地大猩猩，也提及了公众科学的崛起还有古希腊的亚里斯多德到现代的美国昆虫学家、博物学家和生物学家爱德华·奥斯本·威尔森（E. O. Wilson）等人的努力，讲述他们如何形塑人类看待自然的观点以及保护自然的方式。
书中还介绍了许多特别的节日，像是美国的全国圣诞红日与猫节、澳洲的袋熊日和泰国的猴子（吃到饱）节，不是吃猴子吃到饱（惊吓），而是让猴子吃好吃饱吃满（松口气），猴子节时，人们会准备满满的蔬果让上千只猕猴大快朵颐。作者也介绍了许多全球的节日，像是世界野生动物保护日、国际山岳日还有庆祝蛇类、海龟与巧克力的国际节日。书中内容将迷人的事实像是水母的身体、各个月份盛开的花卉与传说中的尼斯胡水怪、独角兽与古希腊、罗马及埃及神话交织在一起，让这本详尽的年历成为一件值得收藏的艺术品。
《我与自然的一年》赞颂自然世界的奇迹与美丽，正如人类够过视觉艺术、音乐、文学、科学、自然史与日常感受表达自己的感动。但最重要的是，这本珍贵年历里的小短文，要鼓励读者认真思考，自己该如何保护并确保，我们的后代也能够享受到这些我们视为珍宝的美丽景观及丰富的生物多样性。
本书好评
“A Year with Nature is that rarest of creatures—a truly original nature book. And what a bravely eclectic book it is! Like all almanacs, it follows a calendar structure, but that is where convention is merrily abandoned. I defy you to predict what you will read next. As someone who believes that all things in nature are connected, I was delighted by the ambitious range.”
(Tristan Gooley, author of "The Natural Navigator," "How to Read Water," "The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs," and "Wild Signs and Star Paths")
“Crump’s A Year with Nature is so beguiling I devoured it in a single read. A delightful and enlightening compendium of 365 days of links with nature—and for those wondering what to do the following year I recommend starting over. A veritable marvel of a book.”
(Thomas E. Lovejoy, University Professor of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University)
“A well-written, accessible, evocative, and educational daily reader. I found myself getting into a rhythm, paying close attention to what a particular date’s entry was going to teach me, where it might even take me emotionally. Crump has also managed a subtle narrative arc over the whole collection, enhanced by the wonderfully quirky illustrations. A Year with Nature is a fine, inspiring volume, one that could end up on many an end table, office desk, or daily tote bag.”
(Harry W. Greene, Cornell University, author of "Tracks and Shadows: Field Biology as Art")
关于作者 Marty Crump 是犹他州和北亚利桑那州几所大学的兼任生物学教授。她也是一位作家，近期作品是由芝加哥大学出版社出版的 Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog, Adder's Fork and Lizard's Leg: The Lore and Mythology of Amphibians and Reptiles 。她目前住在犹他州的洛根市。
