Pocket sized books from Usborne

I've been after these books for way too long and was lucky enough to receive them from my Mum and Dad as a Christmas pressie! They are perfect to learning about so many different things to do with nature and life around us and are just the right size to pack into a small bag, keep in the glove compartment of the car etc., for when you may suddenly need a quick reference guide (I guess I should add that, unless you have an exceptionally large bag or glove box then you probably won't be able to take all the books in the series with you!).

General birds, birds of prey, wild flowers, butterflies and trees are always the ones that get me when we're out and I wish I could identify what I'm seeing immediately. Let's hope now I will be able to! As with all Usborne books that I've had the pleasure of either owning or borrowing, these have detailed colour drawings of their subjects with a spotter's guide and some useful bits of information too.

I'd highly recommend them. Mine came from The Book People as a set (they aren't always in their catalogues, but do pop up from time to time and cost £12.99 for the whole set), alternatively they can be sourced individually from Amazon or Ebay.



The children will, once again, endeavour to complete their RSPB Wildlife Action Awards this year. We started doing this with our HE group at the end of 2006 but unfortunately it dwindled into nothing! Promised myself last year we'd pick it up again but it didn't happen. We shall certainly do it this year. Having done a year of nature study last year the children, and I, are very much more into the "world around us", and so it'll be much more fulfilling for them to take part in the awards this year and hopefully at least receive a Bronze for their efforts. Using the the spotter's guides will really help us all complete the activities.