Customer Reviews

Early Spring: An Ecologist and Her Children Wake to a Warming World

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I could tell by the end of the first chapter that I would never have bought this book for myself, and my feelings are quite strong due to the writing style of the author, the lack of real content, and what seems to be an underlying philosophical difference between the author and myself. I have rewritten this review several times trying to find a reasonable way to explain what I mean.

Early Spring is an introductory gloss on the local manifestations of global warming. Seidl alternates between rather detached scientific explanations and overly sensuous descriptions of her Vermont environs as she points out that global warming is apparent in one's own backyard. She asks, and prompts those who have obviously not been paying much attention until now to ask, what global warming means for traditions, communities, the future. The book never gets much further than this- posing the question- and could stand to be a great deal shorter for all it accomplishes.

I was looking forward to Early Spring, and I have to say I'm disappointed. The subject is important enough but never actually discussed- just set up. Over and over and over again.

Early Spring is done in a literary style- Seidl aims for aesthetic expression as much as the conveying of information. Unfortunately, her inflated style quickly reaches the point of overkill, and she does not manage to add much to the subject of global warming at all. I knew much of the subject matter going in; I do not live in Vermont but neither do I live in a cave. I kept waiting for her to tie it all together and take it further, and she doesn't. Instead I get to hear about her sensuous rapture at the bounty nature created apparently for no other purpose but her pleasure, and, of course, I get to hear more about her darling children. Such passages went past the point of unnecessary all the way to disturbing at times- I nursed my children to the age of two and a half years each, mind you, and I was still weirded out by the overly familiar manner in which she described breastfeeding her own. And I'm still not sure exactly what that had to do with maple syrup traditions in Vermont, or the sap starting to run earlier with each passing year. Seidl's manner of suddenly switching between professional scientist mode and sensual mother mode made each seem the more exaggerated, and somehow exclusive of the other. This hardly needs to be the case...

Displaying an actual dead bird via overhead projector might have gotten the attention of her students, and it is surely a more engaging portrayal than a stick figure, but noticing the intricacy of the feathers is not the same thing as realizing the inherent value of the bird's life, and how the world is diminished by the loss of the bird. Knowing a bird's species name and habits is no substitute for entering into the actual experience of the bird itself. Handling a lifeless bird nonchalantly is not an expression of fearlessness or fellowship, but of a callous remove and a lack of respect for both the bird and the pathogens that might have killed it.

Seidl writes in one passage about her daughter catching a butterfly by the wings, and the thrill in her eyes as she feels her first sense of control over a wild creature. Seidl does not seem to realize that this self same butterfly could theoretically cause hurricanes simply by flapping those wings. Human control over the natural world is an illusion we have to outgrow if we are to acknowledge that our impact on the world is, far from a lordly management of things, endangering all life on the planet, including our own. Against our expectations. How can a book about global warming miss this point?

After the first third of the book, I wanted to put it down and walk away. Sadly, I wouldn't have missed much if I had.

Early Spring is a personal reflection on potential disruption of natural ecosystems and human communities from anthropogenic climate change. Seidle asks questions that need our attention and offers informed speculation but cannot tell us the answers; nobody really knows.

Early Spring is frequently engaging. Homey descriptions of family life and modern rural Vermont society are sweet but not overly sugared. Imperiled species and the complex ecosystem interactions they depend on are elegantly unfolded.

I found potential impacts on relationships in natural systems particularly thought provoking. No element is isolated, each rare species and well-loved creature relies on a complex web of relationships. Entire natural systems will not simply shift their activities smoothly to start spring earlier. Migrants depending on day-length cues will miss food sources that rely on temperature cues. Each change to complex dynamic systems will impact other elements of the system, generating cumulative changes we cannot anticipate.

Seidle writes as much about potential impacts on the social live of her community as on natural systems. I found these sections to be a little weaker. Speculations on how local customs may alter seem rather trite at times. I felt she tried a little too hard to relate global climate change to her own life when mostly all she can report is vague worries about things that seem rather minor in the big scheme.

Throughout Early Spring, Seidle consciously echoes Rachel Carson. Carson's Silent Spring made the little-known issue of unbridled pesticide use a compelling national concern, spurring federal legislation. Early Spring, in contrast, runs over well-known ground and articulates no policy agenda. This is a more personal work, smaller both physically and in scope than Carson's. Still and all, I enjoyed this small semi-precious gem of personal nature writing on an important and timely issue.

This book is really about the butterfly effect and how an action miles away can wreck havoc on your environment. The author does give some great personal insights as the actions of man cause many unintended things to happen locally and on a small level that are adding up to a grim reality. I wish some people who say global warming does not exist would read this personal account of how the weather is not "normal" anymore.

Here's the deal. The planet IS warming. Even most climate skeptics admit this much.

This book explores how that warming is being felt in a New England community. The author is both a biologist and an author. The book is somewhat like Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, but much more current. Recomended highly.

Amy Seidel's book is a beautifully crafted glimpse of her life in Vermont.
Through casual observation and with her background as an ecologist and environmental scientist she talks about the climate changes in her everyday environment. She does this in such a way that educates and entertains, explaining carbon farming and phenology as well as her daughter's experiences in capturing caterpillars watching them morph into butterflies. It brought me back to when my favorite Aunt would let me 'play' in her garden teaching me along the way about the plants and how they grew. Early Spring teaches in this manner.

The vast majority of books about the effects of global warming fall into two general categories: they are shrill alarms about a catastrophe right around the corner, or they are scientific books filled with terminology that is dense, boring and difficult to read. Not so this volume, which is a look at the effects of global warming in the author's own backyard in Vermont.

The vast majority of people, if they understand and believe in global warming, have been taught to think on a large scale; weather patterns changing over vast areas, ice sheets melting and major flooding that will occur as a result. Rarely does an author deal with what global warming is truly about; subtle changes in our environment that may not be noticeable to the average person. The changes range from different bird species at the feeder to a change in when crops are planted in a given geographic area.

The author, by allowing us to look into her world, has exposed the changes she is seeing over a period of time. This allows the reader to think of the effects of global warming on a much smaller scale; down to their own backyard, which is the only way people will truly come to understand what is happening around them.

The author has a gift for writing and does so beautifully. She also has organized the book into chapters that make sense and follows the seasons explaining how and why a given change has occurred. I would recommend this book to all, but particularly those interested in wildlife or ecology. It would also make a wonderful gift for someone who is interested in this subject.

Powerful, beautifully rendered book. The science is explained oh so well, with subtle clarity.

But as informative as this book is, the tome is equally a work of art. Ms. Seidl's prose is pure, unadulterated poetry. She works with her words a special magic, conveying the seasonal perspective of living on the boundaries of nature, telling her stories of the world she exists in with a knowing, appreciative intimacy.

Now, would someone please display the good sense to create an audio edition read by someone with talent?

Just sayin' ...

Early Spring is one of the first books I've read that puts climate change into a local context. The author, Amy Seidl, a naturalist and ecologist, uses a combination of firsthand observation, recollections of past springs, historical records and recent scientific papers to bear witness to the changes global warming has brought to the seasons in New England. Chapters are devoted to weather patterns, garden phenology, forest composition and its implications for maple sugaring, ice freezeup on local rivers and ponds, and the birds, butterflies and wildflowers that share her local ecosystem.

The book does an excellent job of weaving basic ecological principals into a very readable narrative. The author understands how difficult it is to extract meaningful local trends from global climate patterns but forges ahead and presents the complex interrelationships of weather, ecosystems and seasonal trends in a way that balances the changes observable today with speculations about what the future may hold.

I found the chapters on birds and butterflies especially informative. Looking at spring migration trends, the author examines the different adaptive strategies of short- and long-distance migrants. She reports that short-distance migrants (who move based on local weather conditions) often benefit from a longer breeding season while long-distance migrants (who move based on astronomical clues and day length) can be hampered by changes in seasonal abundance of resources needed during migration and breeding as well as extreme weather. She also discusses the increasing frequency of West Nile Virus (triggered by lengthening warm seasons and subsequent increases in mosquito populations) and its implications for both bird and human populations. In the butterfly chapter, the author points out the effects of localized drought and flooding on host plants, nectar sources and butterflies such as the Bay checkerspot which times it emergence to coincide with the flowering of Indian paintbrush and plantains. She also considers how plants will use the extra carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and presents her own research regarding an increased concentration of salicortin in willows, a compound that discourages insect predation, and could ultimately have serious implications for feeding caterpillars.

I would recommend this book for anyone with an interest in their local ecosystem. It will resonate with readers moved by the writings of Rachel Carson or Aldo Leopold. Although the book is titled Early Spring, it deals with the impact of climate change in all four seasons. While the author hails from Vermont, she uses examples from across the United States. It is, all in all, a gentle introduction to the lost art of nature study from someone who has clearly moved from being an observer to being an engaged participant in her local ecosystem.

Early Spring is a fairly unremarkable book, save the beautiful details of the Vermont home and woods the author can't seem to say enough about. Amy Seidl seems to believe that she is the only person to ever have had children and found said children to be the most beautiful beings on earth. She beats the horse until it's bones become paste. The book is not terrible but I do regret wasting my time.