Waterford Press has a tagline that says, “Putting the World in Your Pocket.” With Waterford Press it is amazing just how much of the world you can fit into your pocket. You can store information about animal tracks, the cosmos, plants, wildlife and more right in your back pocket. These naturalist pocket guides are durable, easy to read, colorful, and fun for children or anyone who appreciates nature. In addition to nature guides, you can have a hands on guide to first aid, wilderness survival, knots, and state flags and facts. I cannot even begin to give you the entire list of amazing pocket guides, please visit the site. I am certain you will find a guide that suits you!
I had the opportunity to review three naturalist guides from Waterford Press; Animal Tracks, The Night Sky and Bugs and Slugs. I was pleased when I opened my package of pocket naturalist guides. Moreover, my children were pleased.
What we liked:
The guide is laminated which makes is durable. Durable enough for a two year old to grab it out of her sister’s hands and run around the house before dragging it alone before getting caught.
The size! The guide is 8.25″ H x 3.5″ W. It is small enough to bring it with you on nature walks or where ever you go yet big enough to find. The ability to find an object in a house with four kids, including one stealth mode toddler thief, is essential.
The amount of information provided in the guides. The guide is not simply pictures with a few words on each animal, bug or object. It provides a nice balance of enough information to understand and appreciate the topic yet not so much that my five year old or my 11 year old got that glazed look in their eye. It also had enough information to peak an interest yet not leave you with too many questions.
The Night Sky guide has a star chart that glows in the dark!
What we didn’t like:
Animal tracks had a picture of an opossum. I dislike opossums. So, that is a bit unfair, right?
My toddler and my Kindergartner fight over the Animal Tracks guide. Not sure how I can blame that on Waterford Press though.
Honestly, we couldn’t find anything wrong with the guides. In fact, I am looking forward to more of their products coming out in the spring. They will soon offer My First Nature Activity Books and Children Nature Activity Books which really appeal to me and my kids.
Pictured below is an activity I used the Animal Track guide for with my Kindergartener. I happened to have animal track molds from a previous activity. So, I rolled out Play Doh and imprinted the tracks. I then had my daughter use the guide to identify the tracks. She had a great time doing this activity. She even made her own tracks using the guide and a few Play Doh tools.
Richele is an eclectic homeschooling mom to four reflections of God’s love whose greatest accomplishment thus far was teaching physics, folding laundry, and playing Candyland simultaneously. Find her blogging at Under the Golden Apple Tree.
Richele is an eclectic, history loving, homeschooling mom to four beautiful children. She believes education should foster creativity, critical thinking, and curiosity. She is the co-founder of Christian Graces, LLCa company dedicated to teaching character and etiquette to young people. Her educational background is in philosophy and educational psychology. Find her blogging at Under the Golden Apple Tree.
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