Into the Woods: A Woodland Scrapbook by Loretta Krupinski

Into the Woods: A Woodland Scrapbook Reviews

• 
  J

  A very basic starter book of the generic North American woodlands and an introduction to a few of the many species that can be found therein. The book itself is made to mimic a nature scrapbook although not in the same fashion as fans of Edith Holden would probably love to see.
  
  As such the book allows the reader to get brief yet informative glimpses while including a large array of topics thus limiting the rest of the book's presentation just to keep it small but these are all good topics. The reader is given an opening to woodland animals along with fungi and plants, although the latter is mostly trees that are discussed in more depth. Furthermore there is wood lore such as how to mark you paths when hiking or walking through, how to find the North Star and an introduction to tracks for readers who are interested.
  
  Tucked into all of this otherwise are included some superstitious beliefs, some proverbs, a few old wives' tales and the best inclusion of all are the addition of Native American tales just to balance off the nature side.
  
  The illustrations are the best part of the book as they provide the reader with brightly colored yet realistic animals that one may come across in their forest hike. The attention to detail is also presented to the reader on the page with the tracks thus allowing the reader to see if they can find fur in the tracks in the snow or not.
  
  My only grievance with this book besides the way too simple and limited amount of information is that some of the information needs to be observed apart. The book states that the reader can usually tell a poisonous snake from a non-poisonous snake given to the shape of the head, which isn't true as many of the non-poisonous snakes will puff their heads to mimic the vipers when they feel threated.
  
  All in all if you are looking forward to introducing your child to the forests around them either through camping, hiking or some other activity this would make for a great starter book. But yes there are definitely much better books out there that just include a bit more information to be a bit more relevant for children who enjoy being in the outdoors.
• 
  Haley Hoenke

  #science #nature