The Forgotten Teachers: How Nature Wrote the Story of Life

by Brian Isett (Author), Claudia Biçen (Illustrator)

Interweaving science and storytelling, spirituality and art, a neuroscientist and an artist guide us toward a deeper understanding of how radically interconnected all of life is.

A Kirkus Reviews Fall Preview selection!
Selected for The New Yorker Holiday Gift Guide!

Starting from science, while reaching for spiritual truth, The Forgotten Teachers charts the evolution of life on Earth under the mentorship of six teachers: Ocean, Air, Theia (through collision with this planet, Earth was set on its tilt), Sun, Plants, and Symbionts. Ideas from the field of evolutionary biology, accompanied by watercolor illustrations, guide this factual yet mytho-poetic exploration of life.

Motivated by their shared concern over the severance of science from the sacred, and humans from their place within nature, Isett and Biçen set out to write a scientific wonder story for our times―to enchant readers with the strangeness and beauty of evolutionary biology, while reintegrating us into the natural world.

As Rachel Carson did in her time and as Wendell Berry has done as a poet and essayist across the years, Isett writes with precision and urgency to remind us that we participate in a story that is far larger than ourselves, and that to see ourselves more truly would be to see the many ways in which we belong to the molecules and mysteries of the living world.

Originally published in Japan and written and illustrated by one of the country’s most important picture book makers, The Snow Theater is a quietly enchanting tale about the wild beauty of nature, the powers of the imagination, and the unconditional love of a parent for their child.