Karl, Get Out of the Garden! Carolus Linnaeus and the Naming of Everything

Even as a baby in Sweden, Karl Linné (later Carolus Linnaeus) was drawn to bugs and plants; as he grew older, the system of nomenclature he’s known for came about because of practical reasons: “He studied hard and soon began using his beloved plants to cure people’s ailments. There was just one problem. Which plant was which?.... Some plants had thirty or forty different names!” Stock (Emily and Carlo) works in scraggly pen, ink, and watercolor, befitting the mood of Linnaeus’s “exciting, rowdy field trips into the woods and meadows—expeditions with hundreds of students, lasting from morning till night.” Sanchez (Leaflets Three, Let It Be!) lends significant humanity to the naturalist, whose scientific contributions are now so familiar, they are easy to take for granted. Ages 7–10. Author’s agent: Regina Ryan, Regina Ryan Books. (Mar.)