Forest Explorer: A Life-sized Field Guide

All the cover pictures of this book have horrible resolution. I almost didn't purchase it for the library because it looked so fuzzy and blah. Fortunately, I decided to get it for the library anyways, since Nic Bishop's other books were so gorgeous.

I was happily surprised when it arrived - this one is gorgeous too! It's an oversized book and consists of seven full-page spreads of a different area or season of the forest and a following spread detailing all the creatures to be found there and giving snippets of information about their characteristics and habits. The book also includes an explanation of how the book works, how to be a forest explorer yourself, and an excellent picture-index of all the creatures in the book.

Verdict: This show more is an amazing resource for a wide variety of ages. It's a great seek-and-find book, resource for animal lovers, browsing book for photography fans, and all-around guide to exploring the forest! It almost derailed by school visits, since the kids didn't want to move on to the next book.

ISBN: 978-0439174800; Published February 2004 by Scholastic (out of print); Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library show less

Retelling: This book shows what the forest looks like in the canopy, at the forest edge, in the understory, and on the forest floor during each of the four seasons. It gives tips at the end about how to be a forest explorer.

Thoughts and Feelings: This book is fantastic! Now if I go for a nature walk, I feel like I have some idea of what to look for! The pictures are incredible! After I read this book, I actually saw a digger wasp (the one that buries its young in cicada shells). It's HUGE!

3Q
3P
Bishop combines an I-Spy type of book with creatures of the forest. While there is a great variety of creatures to discover in this book the depth of coverage is lacking.

WoW! A book chock full of information on forest animals. A fun search and find for the animals followed by the information page.