Ishita Jain grew up in New Delhi, India, and moved to New York City in 2018. While used to being in a big city, she found the change in climate quite a shock, especially during the cold, dark winter months. To cope, she spent as much time as she could outside exploring her new city.
Her book Searching for Sunshine reflects what she found in parks, gardens, and other places where plants are abundant. But she was more than just a casual observer. A skilled artist, she made drawings of plants – from single flowers to whole trees – along with other sights of city life.
Another way she engaged was with the people active in green places. She would ask them “about their experience of working with the natural world, the impact of nature on their everyday lives, and why plants make us happy.“
The resulting book is a delightful blend of text and graphical depictions of her interviews, which cover a wide spectrum of personalities and livelihoods. These include Tama Matsuoka Wong, who is a forager and the author of Into the Weeds, another book in the Miller Library collection.
Jain also explored a favorite park with Jose Lopez, Deputy Director of Parklands for New York City. She met with Dr. Barbara Ambrose and her colleagues in laboratory research to learn about their work at the New York Botanical Garden. Other interviewees included a florist, an entomologist, and the horticulture staff for a large (almost 500 acres with 7,000 trees) cemetery in Brooklyn.
Rebecca Alexander, recently retired after 20 years on the Miller Library staff, considers this one of the library’s books that made a lasting impression upon her. She describes Searching for Sunshine as an “embodiment of why plants matter to people, exuberantly illustrated.”
Reviewed by Brian Thompson in The Leaflet for Scholars, Volume 12, Issue 8, August 2025.