Tracks in the Wild

A track is more than just a footprint. Each track tells a story. As you follow the marks an animal left behind, you get to know it: where it goes, what it likes to eat, when it runs, and why. Every set of tracks is unique, as each animal's life is different from every other's. This richly illustrated book introduces young readers to the tracks and the ways of life of thirteen different animals. Betsy Bowen shares the wonder of the northwoods wilderness in this newly designed edition featuring striking multiple-block woodcut prints and new vibrant colors. Life size animal tracks grace each page along with poetic quotes and passages that reveal mysteries of the natural world and inspire respect for its wildlife. Here is a book for young naturalists and beginning trackers, a book that is perfect for a family to share before and after a trek through their own woods.

Explores the habits and behavior of thirteen northwoods animals by discussing the various tracks and signs left by them.

Explores the habits and behavior of thirteen northwoods animals by discussing the various tracks and signs left by them.

Publishers Weekly

Bowen's follow-up to her environmentally inspired Antler, Bear, Canoe again focuses on the author's beloved home in the Minnesota northwoods. This time out she provides facts, observations and insights about the creatures that live and consequently make tracks near her house; she also supplies suggestions for how to track various forms of wildlife. Each spread consists of a rustic woodblock print of an animal accompanied by a detail of the creature's tracks and a paragraph of information. Occasionally an appropriate quote--often from a Native American--is also included. Bowen's tone is sometimes a bit too introspective--``A sense of animals' presence on the earth is important to me as a part of feeling connected to all things''--but the personal anecdotes also lend an air of authenticity. Her bold prints, which starkly contrast thick black against icy blues and whites, offer a moving and dramatic interpretation of the natural world. All ages.

Betsy Bowen is the author-illustrator of several books for children. Reviewers have described her distinctive woodcuts as bold, rich and handsome. The mother of three sons, she has lived with her family on the rugged north shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota for more than thirty years.