America Is Wild!
A State-By-State Encyclopedia of American Wildlife
Brad Timm’s America Is Wild! celebrates the diversity of the US—its sheer size; its range of habitats; its range of plant and animal lives—with fun facts and gorgeous illustrations of nature.
“From grizzly bears in Alaska to alligators in Florida—and squirrels and hawks right in your neighborhood—nature is everywhere,” the book begins. It then highlights a few examples of plants and animals from each of the fifty states. Alaska, for example, is represented by the musk ox, sea otter, bald eagle, and wood frog on the animal side and by fireweed, Sitka spruce, salmonberry, and Arctic willow for flora. The Minnesota entry highlights the gray wolf and riverbank grape, and Utah is revealed as the home of the sego lily and the canyon tree frog. In total, hundreds of species native to the US are covered, with the book showing off their variety.
Each state entry begins with a short description of the local ecosystem, and each species is described in terms of what makes it special alongside bullet-point details regarding its size, diet, and where it is found. Brief, accessible, and informative, these descriptions reveal elements like the structure of a particular phlox flower’s stem, how a brown bat forms maternity colonies, and how nine-banded armadillos walk through water to find food.
Each species is also depicted via colorful, accurate, and beautiful illustrations. Most are small scale, though some animals, including the American alligator and West Indian manatee, are showcased with larger, more detailed images that set them in their habitats.
A fun encyclopedia and a useful field guide, America Is Wild! is a beautiful tribute to the unique flora and fauna of the United States.
Reviewed by
Jeff Fleischer
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
