Curious Kids Nature Guide: Explore the Amazing Outdoors of the Pacific Northwest

by Fiona Cohen, Marni Fylling (Illustrator)

Overview

Filled with fun facts and 100 full-color, beautiful, and scientifically accurate illustrations, this nature guide will inspire kids to go outdoors and discover the natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest.
 
Did you know that baby raccoons are smaller than a bar of soap? Or that salmon smell using little pits in the front of their eyes? Curious Kids Nature Guide is filled with full-color illustrations and fun facts about the natural wonders of the Pacific Northwest, encouraging kids to discover and explore nature in their own backyards and beyond. Organized by habitat—forest, beach, fresh water, and backyards and urban parks—this book will teach kids about some of the most intriguing flora, fauna, and natural phenomena of the region while also sharing ecological lessons.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781632170835
Publisher:	Blue Star Press
Publication date:	05/02/2017
Series:	Curious Kids
Pages:	96
Sales rank:	618,189
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	7 - 9 Years

About the Author

FIONA COHEN is a science writer whose writing has appeared in the Seattle Post-IntelligencerGeorgia Straight, Victoria Times Colonist, and Canadian Geographic. She has had a lifelong passion for the natural history of the Pacific Northwest. She lives in Seattle and volunteers with Seattle Audubon.
 
A science illustrator, writer, and educator, MARNI FYLLING has a BS in zoology from UC Davis and a graduate certificate in natural science illustration from UC Santa Cruz. Her favorite thing to do is explore tide pools—although sketching insects and wildflowers (or just about anything else) is a close second.

Read an Excerpt

INTRODUCTION

This is a book about where the Pacific Ocean meets the northwest coast of North America. It's a place with soaring mountains, giant trees, glow-in-the-dark seawater, and stupendous slugs.

This area is called the Pacific Northwest, or Cascadia, and includes Washington, Oregon, and the
Alaska Panhandle in the United States, and British Columbia in Canada.

Whatever you call it, if you're lucky enough to live there or visit it, there's a lot of spectacular nature to discover. Whether you're in the woods, at the beach, by a stream or a swamp, or in your own backyard, there's plenty to find.

So go outside and discover what's there. This book will help you begin.

Here's what you'll need to do to get started:

1. Use your senses. The more you stay still and quiet and examine what is around you, the more you’ll find. Amazing animals could be nearby, but if you don't take the time to wait and watch, you might never find them. Listen, smell, and touch as you go.

2. Stay comfortable. It's hard to enjoy nature and discover new things when your feet hurt; you're cold, hungry, or thirsty; or you’re worried about sliming your best outfit. Wear comfortable shoes and sturdy clothes. Dress for the weather, whether it's hot, cold, rainy, or all three. Be ready to change your clothing with the weather. If you're going on a longer hike, bring food, water, and a first aid kit.

3. Take care of nature. When you're done exploring, leave everything as you found it.

·         Put back rocks and logs you moved. Animals rely on them for shelter.
·         Pick up litter, even if it isn't yours.
·         Collecting a few leaves, sticks, rocks, or shells is fine, but leave living things where they are
·         Don't feed wildlife.
·         Don’t break plants.
·         Obey the rules of the trail.

4. Stay safe.

·         Don’t go out alone. It’s fun to explore with a friend, a sibling, or an adult.
·         If you go on an expedition, get permission and share your plans with a responsible adult. Let   him or her know exactly where you are going.

Let’s explore!

Editorial Reviews

A PNBA Bestseller!

"This beautiful field guide with winsome scientific illustrations encourages kids to get outside and experience nature with all of their senses." 
—Booklist 

"A fine primer for children and families ready to explore Cascadia’s extraordinary habitats."
—Kirkus Reviews

"Encourage outdoor exploration and provide a summer teaching moment — without your kids even knowing it. Area resident Fiona Cohen’s descriptions of the flora and fauna are short, clear and fun, with lots of kids-friendly facts that will stick in their brains (and yours)."
—Seattle Times

"Curious Kids Nature Guide explores the wonders of our Pacific Northwest playground with fun facts and illustrations that will have little adventurers itching to get outdoors." —Seattle Magazine

“If you have a little kid with big curiosity…about the amazing array of critters and plants sharing our lush NW environment, [this book] will likely provide answers to his or her questions and spark many more.” 
—Seattle’s Child

"Older kids who love spouting off animal facts will be all about this beautifully illustrated exploration of Pacific Northwest nature." 
—Seattle Met Magazine

"Children who love the outdoors will appreciate this new book, which introduces our region's flora and fauna with simple, easy-to-follow text and meticulous line drawings."
—Portland Oregonian

"This book is a great complement to adventuring families."
—PDX Parent

"[This book will] help our kids learn more about our incredible area, while developing their love of learning." 
—Northwest Healthy Mama

"There is so much that my children are going to learn, and I couldn’t be more excited. I recommend this nature book for any Pacific Northwest family."
—Brought to You By Mom

"I love how the book provides different layers to learning, which is part of its broad age appeal. I enjoyed reading it as much as my daughter did."
—Special Needs Travel Mom

"Not only is there a beautifully illustrated picture guide available for the kids (and me!) but then there is 1+ paragraph about each amazing creature with great details."
—Long Wait for Isabella

"Delightful… Cohen has given just enough information to intrigue the curious to look more closely, more often at the big wild world around us."
—Books 'n' Bytes

From the Publisher

06/01/2017
Gr 2–5—This compact title looks at the animals and plants in four ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest: forests, beaches, freshwater, and backyards/parks. There's not much information on most of the species listed, but there are enough facts to engage casual readers. One of the largest sections in the book is appropriately dedicated to salmon, a staple of the region. However, many of the flora and fauna discussed (such as gulls, osprey, owls, ravens, and mallards) are fairly common to other places in North America. Fylling's illustrations are detailed and appealing, accurately portraying the various creatures in their habitats. Sidebars are also peppered throughout, often containing fascinating anecdotes. The text is easily readable and accessible, and the trim size makes this volume great for slipping into backpacks. VERDICT Not a must-have, but a fine addition to large geography or nature guide collections.—Lisa Nabel, Tacoma Public Library, WA

School Library Journal

2017-03-06
Organized by habitat, this guide catalogs over 90 animals, plants, fungi, and other natural denizens of the Pacific Northwest.After a brief introduction and tips for safely exploring in nature, Cohen introduces four organizing habitats: "Forest," "Beach," "Freshwater," and "Backyards and Urban Parks." Each section presents brief, pithy information with well-chosen facts. Most subjects garner at least one paragraph, some as many as four or five, with fascinating details sure to capture kids' attention. To mate, two hermaphroditic banana slugs "climb a tree together and then dangle off a branch, hanging from a rope of slime." (Humans encountering slug slime are reminded that rinsing with water will make the goo swell. "The way to get it off is to rub, and keep rubbing.") Fylling, a scientific illustrator, provides precisely rendered thumbnail pictures. These are first presented collectively, with their common and scientific names, at the start of each habitat section, then reproduced singly for Cohen's descriptions. Curiously, the geoduck (one of the Pacific Northwest's most bizarre-looking creatures and the largest burrowing clam in the world) gets no illustration. Salmon merit a multipage treatment and a depiction of the chum salmon's life cycle. The venerable orca J2, who reached the probable age of 105 in 2016, gets a present-tense mention, though she's generally believed to have died sometime after an October sighting that year. Overall, a fine primer for children and families ready to explore Cascadia's extraordinary habitats. (index, seasonal timeline) (Nonfiction. 7-11)

Kirkus Reviews