Your Backyard Is Wild: Junior Explorer Series Book 1

by Jeff Corwin

Overview

A backyard anywhere is always fun to explore!

When budding naturalists Lucy and Benjamin get a chance to visit their cousin Gabe in Brooklyn, they can't wait. They are used to seeing fascinating animals and plants in the Florida Everglades where they live, but they can't imagine what they will find in Gabe's New York City backyard. The first book in Jeff Corwin's young middle-grade fiction series shows kids that no matter where you live, you can have fun discovering the plants, animals, and natural life around you.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780142414040
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	09/03/2009
Series:	Jeff Corwin Series , #1
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	6 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jeff Corwin is the host of a variety of popular television shows, including Animal Planet's Jeff Corwin Experience, Corwin's Quest, Spring Watch, and King of the Jungle; Disney's Going Wild with Jeff Corwin; Investigation Earth with the Discovery Networks; NBC's Jeff Corwin Unleashed, which won an Emmy for an Outstanding Host; and the Travel Channel's Into Alaska and Into the American West. He also co-created and cohosted CNN's Planet in Peril with Anderson Cooper in 2007. In the fall of 2008, Jeff Corwin was named Ambassador of Climate Change for one of the nation's leading conservation organization, Defenders of Wildlife. When not traveling the world, Jeff can be found at his home off the coast of Massachusetts, where he lives with his wife and two daughters.

Editorial Reviews

Benjamin and Lucy, who live in the Florida Everglades, are excited about traveling with their parents to visit their cousin Gabe in Brooklyn. They love exploring the exotic animals and plants in their own neighborhood, but they know that New York City has some great places to visit, too. They have a wonderful time touring the city until Gabe falls while playing on the monkey bars. Gabe's doctor and parents decide that he needs to stay home and rest for a few days, and Benjamin and Lucy decide to stay home with him. But the two siblings have some plans of their own, and soon the three of them are exploring Gabe's backyard. They discover all kinds of unexpected wildlife and learn new things about the world around them. Their vacation ends on a high note for everyone, and Benjamin prepares to write a story about everything that he learned. This is an excellent book for young readers; it has believable characters, good parental role models, and an interesting, upbeat story. There are plenty of lessons about the environment and about how humans and animals can live together in harmony, but these lessons are woven throughout the plot and never come across as didactic or overly moralistic. The dialogue not only moves the story along at a good pace, it provides information about the scientific method and nature in an unobtrusive manner. This book, part of the "Junior Explorer" series, will entertain and educate its readers while encouraging them to explore in their own backyards. Reviewer: Leona Illig

Children's Literature - Leona Illig