From the back cover: "Explore the garden, get close to the soil, flowers and trees and discover the many different animals that make the New Zealand backyard their home:
Butterflies and moths
Birds
Bees, spiders, cicadas, weta, worms and many other creatures
Lizards, hedgehogs and other mammals
Aimed at children from pre-schoolers up, this is a beautifully illustrated and highly informative book for anyone curious about the wild side of New Zealand gardens."
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National Library Entry
In the Garden : explore & discover the New Zealand backyard / Ned Barraud & Gillian Candler. Date: 2013 By: Candler, Gillian, author., Barraud, Ned, artist. Identifier: ISBN 9781927213025 (hbk.), ISBN 9781877517990 (pbk.)
Notes: The garden -- In spring -- What lives in the ground? -- In summer -- What lives on the plants? -- What lives in the trees? -- At night -- Bees, wasps, flies & ants -- Butterflies & moths -- More insects -- Spiders, snails, worms & more -- Birds -- Lizards & mammals -- Plants & fungi -- Glossary, index & find out more.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Publisher: Nelson, New Zealand : Craig Potton Publishing, 2013. Format: 32 pages : colour illustrations ; 24 cm
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This book is one in a series of five about native wildlife in New Zealand. Although I wouldn't exactly call this a living book, it would definitely be useful for any young homeschooler who wanted to find out more about the wildlife living in their own backyard. The writing is engaging and easy to understand (aimed at the very young to-be-read-to) with beautiful accurate illustrations.
The book works a bit like this. A page will feature a double spread illustration with a description of the backyard, eg, during a spring day, and then the next page will be pictures of all the insects found in the ground. It continues like this throughout the book.
Because of the way the book is set out, you couldn't really narrate the contents. While I think this is a great series for studying nature, it's definitely better for research and reference.
There are four other books in the series and I've included pictures below so you can make notes and find them. I found all four in my local library and enjoyed browsing through them all. They are a wonderful series.
If you are not able to own all five books at once, then a great way to use the books is to borrow one book from the library, eg, "At the Beach" go to the beach and read it together, then see what you can find and spot at the beach from the book. I hope you enjoy this series.