Gordon Morrison

"Nature in the Neighborhood" is a informative, detailed tradebook describing the everyday habitats that lie before us in and around our neighborhoods. It paints a picture for young readers of an alive and vibrant community of insects (monarch butterflies, milk bugs), birds (blue jays, cardinals, kestrels), and every kind of plant and small mammal as they build their lives around the four seasons. The author, Gordon Morrison, also fills the pages with sidenotes along and around the page detailing each plant with greater focus, such as breeding habits, seasonal migration patterns of behavior, and where to find their natural habitats. All of this takes place in our neighborhoods around us, which we are reminded are natural habitats of their own. Young children would be fascinated as they can relate to all these discoveries in their own backyard, and it makes the science of natural habitats much more enticingly fascinating to younger readers.… (meer)

I was very impressed by this children's book. I loved the idea of following a single drop of water from the clouds all the way to the stream where the child lets it drop off their finger tip. I also really enjoyed the last page which gives the definition of all of the elements of nature used throughout the book. For example, the red- tailed hawk and spruce trees which a child might not know much about. I also really liked the authors note at the beginning of the book, I know this isn't something the child reads but as an adult it was nice to have that background knowledge.… (meer)