Four new outdoors books

  • By Sharon Wootton, Columnist
  • Friday, May 10, 2013 10:32am
  • Life

“Granny’s Clan: A Tale of Wild Orcas” ($9, for ages 4 to 10). A 7,000-pound great-grandmother leads her clan through good times and bad. Author Sally Hodson conveys the biology and relationships: the clicks of communication and songs, the close family ties, the danger of boats and the powerful athletic moves.

“Stargazing with Binoculars” ($20). It’s hard to go wrong with a Firefly book, and this one is no exception. Most of us do not own telescopes, so binoculars are a relatively inexpensive answer for probing the night sky. The helpful sky charts are smaller than optimal, especially outdoors in minimal light, but the book is packed with text, photographs, charts and diagrams.

“The Case of the Green Turtle” ($45). Alison Rieser delivers lessons on the green turtles in an academic way. Rieser presents the fight to rescue an endangered species on many fronts, including science, tourism, the adopt-a-turtle approach and policy.

“The Life Cycles of Butterflies” ($17) by Judy Burris and Wayne Richards, is a visual guide from eggs to maturity of 23 butterflies. The life cycles are captured in photographs with minimal text plus maps and field notes. Some are from the Northwest, such as the red admiral; others are from around the country. There are sections on the butterflies’ favorite host plants and nectar flowers plus a short section on skippers, butterflies that tend to look like moths.

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