{"id":5625,"date":"2022-07-10T00:01:07","date_gmt":"2022-07-10T06:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5625"},"modified":"2022-07-10T08:21:54","modified_gmt":"2022-07-10T14:21:54","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-802-featuring-viola-halle-ruzzier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=5625","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #802: Featuring Viola Halle Ruzzier"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\nIt may have been a ridiculously long time since I’ve done a regular 7-Imp feature with a student or unpublished illustrator (mea culpa), but today I’m going to do so again. It’s my pleasure to welcome Viola Ruzzier to 7-Imp. Viola, who recently completed college at a school in Canada, did not<\/em> major in art or illustration (though her father<\/a><\/strong>, who is an award-winning illustrator, knows a thing or two about it). As you’ll read below, she studied science and embarked upon a book project that involves illustrated stories. It’s called Science Stories: A Little Volume for People Who Like Science and Stories<\/em>. And it is, just as it sets out to be, informative and<\/em> entertaining. (You will see in some of the pages below that Viola’s distinctive voice \u2014 particularly, her dry wit \u2014 is one of the best things about the book.)<\/p>\n

I’m going to turn things over to her so that she can tell us more about this story collection. I thank her for visiting. <\/p>\n


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\nViola<\/font><\/strong>: I did my undergrad in biology and anthropology, and I really enjoyed all the content. (Well, most of it. I’m not a big fan of transcription factors.) But I learned that I cannot stand most academic papers. They’re dense and complicated and, most of all, lack style and narrative.<\/p>\n

And I think this is what puts a lot of people off of science. With a few exceptions, it’s written about either in a very academic way that’s only accessible to a small number of experts or it’s “dumbed down” for the laypeople, who then get about a fifth of the full story. <\/p>\n

What I would like, and what I tried to do with this little book, is a way to write science that doesn’t lose a sense of narrative. I don’t see why stories aren’t considered objective and, though the traditional way of writing scientific articles has many advantages, it shouldn’t be the only accepted way. Having a plot and having characters who do things and make mistakes and revise their ideas makes things infinitely more interesting. And, what’s more, it’s how science actually works. Anyone who’s been in a lab knows that things aren’t as clear-cut as they appear in the final report. So the way we write about science should reflect that.
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\nI also added a lot of illustrations and pop-ups in my project. There are a few reasons for this. First of all, I like drawing, and that was the main reason. But I also think illustration has lost the importance it used to hold in the scientific world. It used to be impossible to be a naturalist, for example, without being able to draw your birds. Art and science were much more closely connected, and I wanted to try to reconnect them a bit.
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\nLastly, a word about the target audience, because it’s something I’m often asked. I guess, overall, it’s meant for kids around age 12. But as someone who rereads A Series of Unfortunate Events and the Frog and Toad books frequently (at the age of 22), I abhor the idea of an age range for books. So really my target audience is anyone who likes my stories, regardless of their age.
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Two images above: Pages from <\/em>Science Stories
(Click each to enlarge)<\/center>
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\nOh, and lastly lastly, someone brought up the point that there are birds drawn throughout the book, but none of the stories are about birds. This is true. I have no explanation for it.
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\nAll images here reproduced by permission of Viola Ruzzier.<\/em><\/p>\n

* * * Jules’s Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
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Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome.<\/p>\n

1)<\/strong><\/font> A trip this past week to Boston and beautiful South Hadley, Massachusetts, which involved … <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> lots of walking and sightseeing … <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> a boat ride …<\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> penguins at the aquarium and exoplanets at the museum of science … <\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and the wonderful collage exhibit<\/a><\/strong> …<\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> and a fabulous independent bookstore<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

7)<\/strong><\/font> This cover song (below) by The A’s<\/a><\/strong>. Which has the kinds of sounds that result from playing with ice chunks and rubbing things against nylon shorts.
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