A Rainforest Expedition!

 

3 Weeks in the Rainforest: A Rapid Inventory in the Amazon 

by Jennifer Swanson 

80 pages; ages 8-12

‎Charlesbridge, 2025

Imagine a place where you’re surrounded by trees that soar to the sky, writes Jennifer Swanson. A place where large, glossy leaves block sunlight, and heavy, damp air is filled with the aroma of flowers. Where the chatter of monkeys and toucans drifts down from the canopy.

That place exists – it is the rainforest of the Andes-Amazon, home to an incredible diversity of plants and animals. In this book, Jen takes us on a three week field expedition into the rainforest, with a “rapid inventory” team of scientists from the Field Museum of Chicago. Together, with their partners from the Andes-Amazon region, they survey the wildlife and learn as much as they can about the people who live there. The goal: to develop a plan that will protect the rainforest and the inhabitants.

Individual chapters take readers into the field with the fish team, the bird watchers, plant collectors, or the night crew surveying snakes and frogs. Put on your boots and make sure your headlamp has fresh batteries because you’re not returning to camp until you’ve counted and recorded everything that slithers, hops, flies, or crawls.  Meanwhile, other teams are tracking elusive mammals and talking with the locals about how they use and care for the land.

What I like about this book: It feels like an adventure. We travel to the first camp by canoe, and set up tents. Each team gets a chapter that takes readers deep into the field with the scientists. Sidebars add details – sometimes about science technology. Did you know that there’s a fish DNA database called the Fish-Barcode of Life? Another explains why birds don’t like to fly when it’s raining. And the photos! Did I mention them? They are gorgeous! I have to admit that I am smitten by the sweet face of the Southern tamandua. 

photo from the Smithsonian

Turns out, it's an arboreal anteater!

The last two chapters focus on the human connection and making a plan for the future. There’s a brief report – 790 species of plants and 706 species of vertebrates, included some species that may be new to science – and what happens next. You can find out more about this expedition at their website: https://www.rapidinventories.fieldmuseum.org/ri-30

In her author’s note, Jen says that she was inspired by an exhibit at Chicago’s Field Museum seven years ago. I wanted to know more!

Me: When did you know you had to write a book about the Inventory Project?

Jen: I spent about an hour or more walking through the rest of the very informative and descriptive exhibit – and during that entire time I just kept thinking, why haven't I heard about this? This needs to be a book for kids! Then I was hit by an overwhelming feeling of excitement, I knew then that I wanted to be the one to tell this story. Less than a week later, I reached out to Dr. Corine Vriesendorp, the head of the Rapid Inventory Project at the time, to request a meeting. 

A few months later, I went back to the museum and met with four of the scientists for interviews and also the PR person to ask if they would support me writing this book. Thankfully, the PR team was very excited about the book.

Jennifer Swanson is an award-winning author of over 50 nonfiction books for children, and founding member of STEAMTeamBooks. You can find out more about her at her website, jenniferswansonbooks.com 

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Explore Outdoors ~ Fungi from the tree tops

 

 

 

Last month the wind blew lots of branches down from the trees. I'm always curious to see what's growing up in the sky... so I look at them all before tossing them into the brush pile. And one branch had this very bright and sunny lichen. It's got a bright and sunny name: sunburst lichen! I love the little cups. They are the fruiting bodies, and release spores.

 

What's growing on trees in your neighborhood? 

Your Body’s Goops, Juices, and Hormones

The Gland Factory: A Tour of Your Body’s Goops, Juices, and Hormones 

by Rachel Poliquin; illus. by Clayton Hanmer 

80 pages; ages 8012

‎Greystone Kids, 2025

Another fun book about the human body by the same team who gave us The Museum of Odd Body Leftovers a couple years ago. I love the table of contents: a map of the Gland Factory so we know where to begin our tour. First stop: the mouth machine. You may want to put on a poncho and a hardhat, because things can get messy on the factory floor. The Mouth Machine has teeth that can crush you dead, and saliva glands that could drown you in spit. 

Make sure you hold on tight as we climb the ladder up to … the nostrils and inner nose. Hmmm, looks like the floor supervisor is doing a safety inspection of the nasal glands…

 After a quick stop at the eyes we get to Main Control in the hypothalamus. No gloop here! This is a messenger gland, a control station that sends and receives a continuous stream of chemicals from endocrine glands. Together they coordinate the body’s vital systems: circulation, digestion, sleep, metabolism, temperature control, and more. These important messages are sent through the bloodstream, similar to rolled up notes stuffed in a bottle and sealed and tossed into a stream. Unlike notes in a bottle, the messages are read and responded to. 

Upon receiving a message, the worker in charge runs it through the hormone decoder machine and then releases the appropriate response hormone from the hormone storehouse. At least that’s how it works in the gland factory. In real life it’s all about body chemistry and receptor cells that ensure the correct hormone message connects with the correct body part.

The tour exits through the waxy ear holes, but before you go, please fill out a visitor survey. (And leave your hardhat and protective gear.) Back matter includes a glossary, suggestions for further reading, and an index.

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.