World of Wonders : Milkweed Editions : 9781639550562 : 1639550569 : 30 May 2024 : "Hands-down one of the most beautiful books of the year." -NPR A New York Times Bestseller Barnes & Noble Book of the Year Beloved author Aimee Nezhukumatathil's celebrated work of nonfiction, now including additional essays and illustrations. As a child, Nezhukumatathil called many places home: the grounds of a Kansas mental institution, where her Filipina mother was a doctor; the open skies and tall mountains of Arizona, where she hiked with her Indian father; and the chillier climes of western New York and Ohio. But no matter where she was transplanted-no matter how awkward the fit or forbidding the landscape-she was able to turn to our world's fierce and funny creatures for guidance. "What the peacock can do," she tells us, "is remind you of a home you will run away from and run back to all your life." The axolotl teaches us to smile, even in the face of unkindness; the touch-me-not plant shows u