As the title indicates. Looking for a book, preferably hardcover, with profuse good illustrations (photos or drawings) of wildlife, and including some information with the illustrations.
It’s for a younger person, but that’s less important than that it have engaging illustrations that bring them back to it. The text should be kinda average layperson accessible. It’s ok if it’s beyond that of a little kid as they’ll grow into it.
Region isn’t all that important, but if there was one for California that would be a bonus, but anywhere in the world is ok.
An excellent example of the style I have in mind is the 1981 Byron Preiss book The Dinosaurs.
Any ideas or suggestions?
I already have a copy of Douglas Palmer’s book Evolution: The Story of Life on order.
That is quite an age range. Is more than one child involved? I don’t remember having any wildlife books when I was 5, but by 12 field guides were very acceptable.
I guess one suggestion is, rather than naming an individual book by the title, you could visit a major library, and go to the children’s wildlife section. I was a member of a sketching group that met at the Calgary Central Library, and I would always do this at the beginning of the session, in order to find a photo to draw.
Children’s books often have amazing photography, as each photo is carefully chosen to drive engagement and curiosity. The text has a lot of the boring fluff removed, but is still surprisingly detailed, often way above even what most adults would be aware of.
They deliberately select taxa with amazing facts, in order to drive engagement with nature.
Again, I can’t recommend any single book, as there are hundreds that fit this description, but if you try it, this is a free way to quickly browse a lot of content.
Growing up (in the ‘70s) I had wildlife books from around 3 onward, and many of them were aimed at adults and and teenagers. The age isn’t at all important as the key is good visual engagement, and for text and explanations the parents can do that while she’s little and she’ll be reading the same things on her own before long.
Not at all looking for field guides, that’s not the purpose or aim, and if it were field guides I have that well covered.
@AdamWargon I’m only back in the US for a short time, I work overseas, and running around for a library is not an option. And the book doesn’t need to be a children’s book specifically, in fact probably better if its not, but targeted at a visual layperson. Best if they’re appealing to children and adults both. Think coffee table book, but one that’s not so expensive that you have to baby it.
I am looking for specific book recommendations, ones that people have direct experience with and enjoyed.
I have two of Peter Wohlleben’s books. I think they’re “The Inner Life of Animals” and “Secret Network of Nature”. I would have to look at the titles to be sure.
Anyway, while they don’t have any pictures, they are very well written. They are very engaging informative, without needing a great understanding of the subject. I would be comfortable recommending these as something to read to children.
However, in the “Inner Life…”, he does touch on death, sex, and maybe some other things that some parents might not be comfortable introducing to younger children. It’s nothing obscene, just not left out because it’s part of life.
My kids had this one, and it’s still on my shelves. And still in print.
On Amazon you can use the “Look Inside” feature to see sample pages. (This is not an endorsement of that company)
Ahhh…children’s nature books are my weakness. Unfortunately I have gotten rid of most of my collection and most were vintage, so not helpful to you. There are lots of current books that have really nice photos if you want to go that route.
I personally tend to go towards books illustrated with drawings. When my now-adult kids were young we enjoyed the One Small Square series by Donald Silver. There are lots of books in the series (rainforest, backyard, pond, woods, etc) and they are copiously illustrated and available on Amazon and other places.
A quick Google brought up the DK Children’s Anthologies series. The Wonders of Nature looks gorgeous and there is An Anthology of Amazing Animals both by Ben Hoare (who looks like he has several other books that may also fit the bill). They are gorgeous and look excellent. I think the animal book may be a winner for you and it looks really easy to find. Honestly, I am really tempted to buy several of Ben Hoare’s books right now after looking at his author page. http://www.benhoare.com/books/index.html
Probably not what you are looking for, but my kids and I loved Thornton Burgess’ books as read-alouds. They are gorgeously illustrated, but only have about one picture per chapter, and I’m not sure any besides the Burgess Bird Book are still in print.
I have now gone down memory lane and took a few minutes to look more closely at my bookshelves. A few books that have survived MANY purges are picture books by Ruth Heller. Her Wikipedia page lists all of her books. They are quite unique. She has a couple of nature series and a grammar (!) series. Every one of her books that I have seen is FABULOUS. The illustrations are absolutely stunning. They can get quite detailed while still being simple and rhyming. Most of them appear to be in print, although possibly only available in paperback.
