The Gecko in the Bathtub: Encounters with Marvelous Creatures

what they say

Praise for The Gecko in the Bathtub

It’s well established that the world of animals provides us humans with places to go and refurbish our spirits and souls. In these times of planetary crisis, we desperately need to preserve such places and creatures. Absorbing Janina Fuller’s wonderful collection of stories detailing her engagement with the animal world will help illuminate this imperative, while nurturing our own humanity.

Bob Madgic

Author, The Sacramento: A Transcendent River

Good scientists and good writers share the same trait: they are expert noticers of the world around them. As both, Janina Fuller possesses the sharp gaze of the hawks she sometimes watches in her essays. ‘Grace abounds here,’ Fuller writes of the natural world—whether it’s a close encounter with a 10-foot fish in Ecuador, or an alligator in her backyard pond. And grace abounds in this book as well.

Christopher solomon

Contributing Editor, Outside Magazine

With exceptional clarity, wit, and warmth, Janina Fuller relates moments of engaging with the natural world in this collection of stories from her life. Dr. Fuller is a keen and authentic observer of nature, one who feels as much as sees; her stories portray the relationship we all have with the natural world and with each other.

Rebecca Weiss

Author, Birds of Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley

As a biologist I have read many essay books about the natural world. Some I never finished reading, while others when finished I was left wanting more. Janina Fuller’s wonderful book, The Gecko in the Bathtub, definitely falls into the latter category. Whether it’s her backyard—or bathtub!—or the rainforest of Ecuador, Janina shares her passion for nature in 30+ short stories that made me smile, laugh, and appreciate why even hive beetle larvae deserve a place on our planet, if not the living-room floor! Great read.

Rick Hafele

Educator and Author, Seasons for Trout

Featured In

Peace Corps Worldwide featured and reviewed The Gecko in the Bathtub on their site. Click to read!

Community

Book Launch

A marvelous launch party for The Gecko in the Bathtub: Encounters with Marvelous Creatures was held on August 27, 2022 at the Main Branch of the East Baton Rouge Parish Library. Nearly 100 people celebrated the book while enjoying refreshments, listening to readings from the book, and watching a colorful PowerPoint slide show displaying many of the book’s subjects. Attendees were excited to meet the live animals in attendance from our local nature center — a baby alligator, a crested gecko, and a rat snake — while children colored in some of Maggie Demorest’s beautiful illustrations and adults purchased books for the author’s signature. Our raffle included several animal identification guides, a game of Nature Bingo, and the grand prize: a one-year family membership to BREC Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center. Many thanks go to Mary Stein and the library on Goodwood Boulevard for hosting the event; to everyone who assisted with refreshments, book and raffle ticket sales; to Bluebonnet Swamp’s outreach team for hosting the critters, and to Irene Kato and Venessa Lewis for photography.