MARJORY'S RIVER OF GRASS

This picture-book biography of Marjory Stoneman Douglas leans into her passion for Florida’s Everglades.

A Minnesotan by birth, Douglas arrived in Florida in 1915 as a college graduate, joining her estranged journalist father at the Miami Herald. There, she fell in love with the Everglades and used her writing skills to draw attention to their importance and to advocate for their preservation. Seeing this ambition become reality took decades of persistence and incremental success. James’ text, set in small, businesslike type on her backgrounds, leads readers on a jerky path through Douglas’ long life (she died at 108). They meet many of the influential men in her life—her editor, her fellow activists—but not the husband whose surname she adopted. That is but one omission that readers may note in this elliptical text. Most notable is the stark absence of the Miccosukee and the Seminole; while the text waxes lyrical about the flora and fauna, it is silent about the human residents of the Everglades. Information is too frequently conveyed in awkward, expository, and unsourced dialogue; James’ digital artwork often has a distinctly uncanny-valley effect. She places her white subject, usually clad in hat and pearls, amid a variety of swampy settings. Backmatter offers an author’s note, information on water resources, a bibliography, and source notes.

Douglas’ life and work were important; this attempt to celebrate them falls short.