Field guides are a great introduction to the natural world for both children and adults. These books help readers to identify specific flora and fauna and learn about their distinguishing features and fun facts.  Depending on the book, there may be photographs or illustrations depicting each object with corresponding facts and/or important identification keys that are searchable by family, shape, colour, location or other descriptors.

Mel Boring (who is not boring at all) has created two larger volume field guides that are great introductions to nature for kids. The books come in hardcover and although they are recommended for kids age 7 and up, because of the beautiful pictures, even younger children will enjoy them. The books will show your kids what interesting natural things look like, where they live, and even how to find them. Best of all, the two books have awesome facts and activities to build an appreciation of nature.

These books are quite large (about 300 pages each) and we would therefore not recommend them as “take-along” books unless that means keeping them in the car for the kids.

Fun with Nature helps kids discover the incredible world in their backyards. It is a compilation of seven bestselling titles: Caterpillars, Bugs and Butterflies; Frogs, Toads and Turtles; Snakes, Salamanders and Lizards; Rabbits, Squirrels and Chipmunks; Tracks, Scats and Signs; and Trees, Leaves and Bark. This entertaining book series is filled with fascinating facts and awesome activities.

Buy Fun With Nature: Take Along Guide

More Fun with Nature is a compilation of five other Take Along Guides. It includes: Berries, Nuts and Seeds; Birds, Nests and Eggs; Rocks, Fossils and Arrowheads; Seashells, Crabs and Sea Stars; and Wildflowers, Blooms and Blossoms.

Buy More Fun With Nature

If you find that your kids are more interested in certain parts of each volume and would benefit from having a smaller, true “field guide”, you can either purchase the specific volume or you can find a more detailed book that your child can grow into.

While the above volumes are definitely more cost efficient than the separate books, they definitely aren’t what we would consider field guides since no one wants to take a 300 page, hardcover book into the field and have to carry it all over the place.

For the individual field guides, please check out “Take-Along Nature Field Guides For Kids”.