Review: Put On Your Owl Eyes by Devin Franklin

Each week on my blog, I post about a different theme: picture book biographies, nature, cultures around the world, and strong girls. This month has 5 weeks, so this week let's read about... nature (again)!


Put On Your Owl Eyes: Open Your Senses & Discover Nature’s Secrets; Mapping, Tracking & Journaling Activities


Available as: spiral-bound, Kindle edition, ebook
Pages: 144
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC
Publication date: May 28, 2019
Suggested tags: middle grade, nonfiction, nature, activities


From Goodreads:

"Children will see the natural world around them with brand new eyes, as they learn to follow its signs, hear its language, and understand its secrets. With this unique and compelling book written by expert environmental educator Devin Franklin, kids aged 8 to 13 will build their own relationship with nature through finding a “Sit Spot” — an outdoor space in the backyard, in a field or in the woods, in a vacant lot or a city park — where they can stop, observe, and become familiar with the flora and fauna that live there."

I've flipped through a lot of books that are intended to get kids interested in nature and exploring the outdoors, but I've never read one quite like this one! This book goes beyond just observing - it's meant to fully engage kids in the world of nature, to get them looking and listening and thinking and feeling and pretending. It's beautiful. It might be a bit much for some readers who are looking for a few quick activities to try while they're playing outside, but for those who are looking to have a more meaningful experience during their time spent outdoors, this is a great guide for that.

The book contains an introduction (which explains a bit about the book and how to use it, as well as inviting readers to discover a "nature nickname" for themselves), then 5 sections: first a general "get to know your backyard" section, then sections devoted to trees, mammals, birds, and community. Each section has 3 exploration activities, such as mapping, tracking, journaling, or practicing skills like looking with "owl eyes" or listening with "deer ears". Scattered throughout the book are short pieces about experiences with nature from the author as well as other writers, photos of plants and animals, and blank sections with questions and prompts for writing or drawing. The author explains concepts such as habitats, tracking, bird sounds, etc. and then includes some activities to further explore the topics. The book ends with a section called "Your Backyard Journey Continues," where all the amazing things readers have learned and done throughout the book are recapped, adding a nice feeling of accomplishment. For readers who are interested (and willing to pay a fee), there are also instructions for submitting the work done within the book for a "backyard nature guide certification" (aka: certificate of completion) through the Flying Deer Nature Center, which is a wilderness school for kids and families; its Program Director, Devin Franklin, is the author of the book. Finally, there's a "Connections" section with information and websites for other nature organizations and programs.

For some readers, perhaps those who are just starting to form an appreciation for the outdoors, it may feel a bit overwhelming - there are a lot of activities, and many require a lot of patient, quiet observing. But for readers who want to start paying more attention to their surroundings and learning how to really listen to and learn from nature, this is a goldmine of exercises and ideas. I think this book will inspire a true love of and appreciation for nature in a lot of kids, setting them on the path to becoming budding naturalists.

Final verdict: I loved it! I thought this book was good! I enjoyed reading it and I would probably recommend it to others.

{ Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy.
My reviews are honest and my opinions are my own; 

your reading experience may vary, so give it a read and see what you think. :) }

Review: The Lost Book of Adventure by the Unknown Adventurer

The Lost Book of Adventure: from the notebooks of the Unknown Adventurer
by the Unknown Adventurer; edited by Teddy Keen

Available as: hardcover, Kindle edition
Pages: 192
Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Publication date: March 5, 2019
Suggested tags: middle grade, nonfiction, nature, adventure



From Goodreads:

"A facsimile edition of the tattered notebooks of the Unknown Adventurer, this love letter to the wild details everything you need to know about how to live and thrive in nature, from the principles of treehouse building to wilderness first aid.

If you are reading this, it means my notebooks have been found. I am leaving them here at camp for safekeeping along with a few other belongings that I won’t be taking with me. The notebooks are a lifetime’s worth of knowledge, which I’m passing on the you.

So reads an excerpt from the weatherworn letter discovered by nature enthusiast Teddy Keen on a recent trip to the Amazon, along with sketchbooks filled with details of extraordinary adventures and escapades, expedition advice, and survival methods, annotated with captivating colored-pencil drawings. It is thought that the sketchbooks were created for two young relatives of the author. Drawing on Teddy’s knowledge of the outdoors, the pages of the sketchbooks have been carefully transcribed for young readers, as they were originally intended.

You’ll be transported by riveting adventure tales from around the globe, like being dragged off by a hyena in Botswana, surviving a Saharan dust storm, being woken by an intrepid emperor penguin in Antarctica, and coming face-to-face with a venomous bushmaster (one of the most dangerous snakes on the planet)—all told in lyrical prose and illustrations that wonder at the mysterious beauty of the wild.

Having inspired the adventurous spirit in you, the Unknown Adventurer encourages you to set out on your own adventure with information on wild camping, rafting, exploration, and shelters and dens, plus tips on first aid and tying knots. Expert instructions on wilderness basics, like building a fire, what to do if you get lost, and how to build various types of shelters are accompanied by more specific skills culled from many years of experience, like baking campfire bread, creating a toothbrush from a twig, making a suture from soldier ants, and even how to pan for gold.

Find your way back to your primal self with the immersive text and glorious color artwork of this one-of-a-kind adventure book.

REMEMBER: be good, be adventurous…and look after your parents."

Where... where do I begin with this... I am speechless. I closed the book and felt like I was still lost inside it. And that is an instant *favorite* for me.

If I had been given this book when I was younger, this would have been one of my most treasured books. I would have read it over and over and over. I would have studied the skills it teaches, practiced them with whatever I could find in my backyard, and imagined myself going on adventures all over the world.

This is such an amazing, gorgeous book. It's exactly like opening up an adventurer's notebook: seeing all their beautiful watercolor sketches and handwritten details of their adventures, with little notes and reminders written just for you. It's filled with facts about nature and wildlife, about camping in all kinds of environments, about necessary skills and safety when out on an adventure. It's filled with illustrations to study, words to devour, information to absorb. It's absolutely incredible.

It looks like the age range for this book is middle grade through young adult; I think middle grade readers would probably enjoy this the most, and I think this book would appeal to so many different interests and purposes. Art lovers have a watercolor masterpiece to enjoy on every page. Fans of adventure stories have a journal full of snippets of adventures from all over the world. If you're looking for a book to spark imagination, to use as a story starter or a writing prompt (for any age writer, adults included), this one provides so many opportunities to take the information and images on the page and envision what happened in each location, to tell your own story about the Unknown Adventurer or use the settings and situations for your own characters' adventures.

I don't have the words to heap enough praise on this beautiful, wonderful, amazing book. I'll be buying myself a copy so I - and one day, my toddler, when he's old enough to not rip the pages out of this treasure - can devour every word over and over again, and then imagine new adventures of our own.

Final verdict: I'm obsessed with it! I thought this book was amazing! It's now officially one of my favorite books! I shall be shouting about it from the rooftops for days and I am currently recommending it to everyone I come in contact with!

{ Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy.
My reviews are honest and my opinions are my own; 

your reading experience may vary, so give it a read and see what you think. :) }