Here’s a really cute title by Roost Books and Bala Kids. It is titled The Animal Adventurer’s Guide: How to Prowl for an Owl, Make Snail Slime, and Catch a Frog Bare-Handed: 50 Activities to Get Wild with Animals. It is recommended for children 5-9 years of age and is written by naturalist and educator Susie Spikol.
The book starts you off by preparing for your adventure with things you might want to pack and take with you when you go out to experience nature, like a pencil and notebook, flashlight, magnifying glass, etc. It also gives young readers reminders on how to connect to nature, like paying attending and practicing kindness. Then the author explains techniques on how to spot animals, like building a bird blind.
The Animal Adventurer’s Guide then moves on to projects. One is exploring owl pellets, which are pretty much the hair, bones, and discard from an owl’s lunch. It’s fun to see how the book breaks down the skills you’ll learn by doing the activities in this book.
The illustrations included in The Animal Adventurer’s Guide are great! These projects in the book could be used for school projects or simply after-school fun.
About Susie Spikol:
Over the course of her 30-year career as a naturalist, she has taught thousands of children, parents, and teachers and given hundreds of public talks at nature centers, schools, colleges, universities, libraries, and conferences. Currently the community program director of the Harris Center for Conservation Education in Hancock, New Hampshire, she is the recipient of New Hampshire’s Environmental Educator Award. Whether she’s talking about star-nosed moles or how to help children engage with the natural world, her passion and commitment to connecting people with the natural world are clearly communicated.
