Outdoor School: Animal Watching: The Definitive Interactive Nature Guide

by Mary Kay Carson, Emily Dahl (Illustrator)

Overview

Rewild your life! With metal corners and 448 full-color, highly illustrated pages, OUTDOOR SCHOOL: ANIMAL WATCHING is an indispensable tool for young explorers and animal lovers.

Make every day an adventure with the included:
- Immersive activities to get you exploring
- Write-in sections to journal about experiences
- Next-level adventures to challenge even seasoned nature lovers

No experience is required—only curiosity and courage. This interactive field guide to animals includes:
- Animal tracking
- Identifying birds by silhouette, size, and color
- Reading animal range maps
- Bird nest spotting
- Essential animal-watching gear
- Identifying mammals
- Bird calls and animal sounds
- Finding amphibians, reptiles, and fish
- Spotting scat
- Recognizing eyeshine
- Recording animal behavior
And so much more!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250230836
Publisher:	Odd Dot
Publication date:	04/27/2021
Series:	Outdoor School
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	253,742
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Mary Kay Carson is the author of nonfiction books for young people. Her book Alexander Graham Bell for Kids received a 2019 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books. She’s written titles in Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's acclaimed Scientists in the Field series, including Park Scientists: Gila Monsters, Geysers, and Grizzly Bears in America's Own Backyard and The Bat Scientists, an ALA's 2011 Notable Children's Books for Middle Readers. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her photographer husband Tom Uhlman in a century-old house surrounded by urban greenspace, deer, hawks, woodchucks, and songbirds.

Emily Dahl is an illustrator working in Maryland. Her favorite bird is the Carolina Wren.

Editorial Reviews

05/01/2021

Gr 4–7—In this field guide to North American wildlife, readers are encouraged to explore, observe, and record, with written notes and drawings in the book, the types of wildlife around them. There are sections within each chapter where readers can check off, write notes about, or sketch the animals they encounter. The book has a logical organization covering larger concepts first then explaining more specific concepts to help readers understand. There are clear and inviting color illustrations and the wildlife highlighted in the illustrations are identified for readers. Within each section are "What Would You Do?" scenarios, which challenge readers to think about their own responses to situations. Unfortunately, there are no recommendations within the scenarios for appropriate responses or cross-references to other sections in the title where readers can find ways to react to situations. The author presents readers with advice and safety disclaimers within the book, too; however, some of the observation recommendations can pose a risk for readers. VERDICT The consumable nature of this title, with its multiple invitations for readers to write and draw within the book, will make it hard for libraries to circulate this guide more than once.—Hilary Writt, formerly at Sullivan Univ., Lexington, KY

School Library Journal

★ 2021-03-31
Part of the Outdoor School series, this book presents the animal world of North America.

Following the same clear organization as other books in the series, this one covers birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles, and fish. How to be respectful of wildlife while observing them; how animals behave and why; where to look for them; how to identify wildlife using shape, size, color, behavior, and location; and other information is presented in easily digestible segments interspersed with plenty of full-color illustrations. Activities to encourage readers to put their newly acquired knowledge to work in the “Try It,” “Track It,” and “Take it to the Next Level” sections include prepared templates for young people to use to write, draw, and make notes about their discoveries and to affirm their progress by checking off and dating accomplishments. Each color-coded subject segment includes a field guide—also featuring areas for them to jot down notes. The metal-encased cover corners and sewn binding ensure the book will stand up to many trips outdoors. While emphatic about not doing anything dangerous, the book nonetheless encourages budding naturalists to try myriad activities that get them actively observing the natural world. This volume’s narrative style is breezier than the others in the series, with plenty of cheeky asides that skew the tone toward a younger audience.

Sure to encourage readers to go outside and get to know their animal neighbors. (index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews