BIOBLITZ!

A local park turns out to be rich in wildlife as two young “community scientists” learn from a day of organized observation and discovery.

Joining teams of volunteers led by expert naturalists, cousins Ava and Gabriel compete for sightings as they comb open woodlands and underbrush for animal species. Young readers will have no trouble following along and understanding the rules and procedures, not to mention keeping track of finds, because along with many having their names called out in the dialogue, each accurately rendered bird, insect, and other creature is numbered in the pictures and identified in a running side list. By day’s end, 84 types of animals have been cataloged, from a mosquito and pillbug (“It’s a crustacean. Did you know some bugs are related to lobsters?”) to white-tailed deer and an elusive blue-spotted salamander. Along with a version of the list broken down by category (amphibians, reptiles, birds, etc.) that serves as an index, Richmond appends both expanded nature notes and an invitation to take part in similar community “biodiversity counts” (also referred to as “Bioblitzes”), explaining that they are “important tools for learning about the health and biodiversity of an area.” Ava and Gabriel are brown-skinned; the human figures in Coleman’s expansive outdoor scenes are diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Budding zoologists will be strongly tempted to join in.