The Atlas of Migrating Plants and Animals --#STEM Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Do you know an animal and/or plant lover? Are you a teacher? Today I get to share with you a new book that is absolutely beautiful!! This is a must have when teaching about animals and plants and especially ones that migrate or perhaps just teaching about migrating. It is The Atlas of Migrating Plants and Animals by Megan Lee and illustrated by Matt Sewell. It is recommended for ages 5 to 10. 

From the Publisher:

Curious young readers will love learning about the migration patterns of plants and animals from all around the world in this colorful children's atlas, richly illustrated in Matt Sewell's signature watercolors.

Featuring mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, insects, and plants from all continents and nearly all oceans, this informative collection will teach young nature lovers about migration in its many forms. Grade-school children will discover how creatures navigate the planet when they encounter climate change, sun, chemicals, the Earth's magnetic field, and the changing seasons in this illustrated reference book.

Follow flocks of arctic terns on their annual 24,855-mile journey between the Earth's poles. Join the monarch butterflies on their famous pilgrimage, upwards of 3,000 miles, from Canada to Mexico. Marvel at wildebeests, humpback whales, salmon, dragonflies, and more, as they travel around the globe and battle the Earth's toughest conditions to survive.

From Me:

Quick! Name an animal you know that migrates. The first thing to pop into my mind are monarch butterflies. Of course, I know birds also migrate. I have been excited to see some of the migrating birds back--a sure sign spring is coming soon. But have you thought or plants as migrating? Think of the plants that do migrate. I know we often have violets popping up all over our yard and sure enough they are in this book as a migrating plant.

This book is full of beautiful, detailed watercolors of the plants and animals as well as information about the plant and animal and how it migrates. The words are easy to read and understand and it takes us all over the world. It features animals and plants on every continent including the Adelie penguin in Antartica. The migrations differ in length, speed and time as well as method. It is full of information that will want the kids to start researching each animal or plant even more. The information about the Painted Lady Butterfly is fascinating. Even though we raised them from larvae, I did not realize they migrated higher than humans could see (more than 1,600 feet on average).

This is one of those books you will want in your home library just to read when you feel like it. It is also a must have for the elementary classrooms that study plants and animals. And of course, it should be part of every unit on migration. I think it would be wonderful to talk about the animals and plants migrating even when teaching about people migrating. Why do the animals and plants migrate? Why are the people migrating? Are we that different?

Throughout the book there are pages of "Amazing migrations" that share maps showing the various migrations of some of the animals. The migration trails are color-coded with a bit more information about the migration and animal. This book truly provides all you need to study the migration of animals and plants. I hope you will check it out!