Category: nature

by April Pulley Sayre (Suggested reading level: Grades 4-7) Amber (10) loves science, especially topics dealing with animals, and the Scientists in the Field series is perfect for her. Amber and I read this together and we both enjoyed this look at bioacousticians, scientists who study sounds made by mammals, insects, birds, frogs and other creatures. Squeaks. Wails. Whistles. Snorts. Songs. Drumming. Allover the globe, animals are making sounds, and these days, more than ever, scientists are listening to them. (pg. 7) Dr. Christopher Clark listens whale songs.  Katy Payne studies elephants' communication and their use of infrasound which is too low for humans to hear. Bill Evans listens to night migrating bird and has set up a website, oldbird.org, to help others listen from their own homes. Others work on projects studying hippos and kangaroo rats. The variety of information they collect and how they do it is fascinating. One thing they all seem to have in common, aside from their love of...

Quest for the Tree Kangaroo by Sy Montgomery, photographs by Nic Bishop (Suggested reading level: Ages 9-12) This is the third collaboration between Montgomery and Bishop that Amber and I have read. We're huge fans and this book was as great as we expected it to be. The book follows biologist Lisa Dabek and her team of scientists and local guides through the rugged, remote cloud forest of Papua New Guinea in search of the Matschie's tree kangaroo. This elusive, adorable creature is fascinating. The team first has to find and capture the kangaroos and then they can fit them with radio collars to learn more about them. It is certainly not an easy effort, but Dabek's love for the animals shines through, and conservation efforts of the local people are also highlighted. Bishop's photographs capture the expedition in brilliant detail. Stunning close-ups of plants, insects, and birds vie for attention with panoramas of moss-draped trees in the eerie, ancient forest. And the tree...

The Snake Scientist by Sy Montgomery, photographs by Nic Bishop Amber (9) loves animals and says she want to be a wildlife biologist. One problem I run into, though, is that it's hard to find good, interesting non-fiction animal or science books that are actually at her reading level. So many seem to be aimed at younger kids or teenagers. This one was perfect, though, one that we both learned from and enjoyed. The Snake Scientist is Bob Mason, a zoologist at Oregon State University. The book discusses his research projects at the Narcisse Wildlife Management Area in Manitoba, where in the spring over 18,000 red-sided garter nakes come out of their dens. For about six weeks each April and May, thousands of these harmless snakes awaken from eight months' sleep beneath the earth. They pour out of the pits like water—a river of writhing reptiles. At any of the three big dens here, you can see more snakes at a glance than...