Book Review: Big Tracks, Little Tracks

It’s part of Stage one of a whole series called, “Let’s Read and find out Science”. Not all books are outdoor related, but so far we’ve read with the kids the above title and “Where are the Night Animals?” These beginner readers are not new. This full color children’s book is a re-titled Harper-Collins release from 1966, and it stays timeless.

<A HREF=”http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?rt=tf_cw&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fsurvi0d-20%2F8010%2F127f0fcc-edf4-48bd-8d47-6b388ed20d3a&Operation=NoScript”>Amazon.com Widgets</A>

The reason I like it, apart from the detailed drawings and story style narration is that it teaches kids to be nature detectives. It shows them things to look for not only in animal prints, but signs that animals have been there. It shows them that animals are everywhere, even if we haven’t seen them.

It also keeps it fun. Who ate the dog’s food? Spot the different animals! and it even finishes with a detective project and instructions for how to make plaster casts of animal prints.

I was very impressed as we were reading another story book that my daughter correctly identified cat prints (their hind feet step in the prints from their front prints, leaving less tracks, plus they retract their claws while they walk).

For young kids, this book shows a number of animals. For the older child it sets their interest in discovery rolling and gives them the basics for identifying animals and their habits.