How does one simplify the subject of evolution?  One solution — read some children’s books on the subject.  Well, at least that’s what I did.  After quickly purveying Darwin’s original On the Origin of the Species, it was pretty obvious that I wouldn’t be finishing it anytime soon, so I did the next best thing.  I checked out what we had in the juvenile section, and lo and behold, I could actually understand them!  I also garnered some fascinating tidbits about this legendary scientist.  For instance, did you know that Darwin . . .

• was a poor-to-mediocre student who would rather be out hunting than studying the classics?  (Wouldn’t most kids?)
• dropped out of medical school as he couldn’t stand to watch surgery being performed on children without anesthetic? (That would do me in, too.)
• spent five years on a voyage around the world aboard the HMS Beagle?  (Though plagued with terrible seasickness, he collected countless new specimens and fossils.)
• spent eight years just studying barnacles?
• was an ardent abolitionist?
• preferred the term “transmutation through natural selection” over “evolution”?
• suffered from stage fright so severe he couldn’t publicly defend his ideas?

If you’re interested in finding out more about Darwin, check out these titles:

Darwin and Evolution for Kids: His Life and Ideas by Kristan Lawson

Charles Darwin and the Theory of Evolution (a graphic novel!) by Heather Adamson

The Tree of Life: a Book Depicting the Life of Charles Darwin, Naturalist, Geologist and Thinker by Peter Sis