View Product Images 740-READING THE WILD 740-READING THE WILD 740-READING THE WILD

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Native Americans knew how to "read" the wild and felt privileged to learn from their wilderness relatives. Plants, trees, animals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians, all have secrets to tell; it takes only paying attention and a little knowledge and you, too, can begin to create the story that explains the disappearing snowshoe hare tracks, or how the fawn got its spots, or why Native Americans always associated the bear with healing and medicine. Notice how coyotes are clever clowns with many characteristics we think of as "human," and learn how the badger builds mansions underground with rooms for sleeping, eating, and raising their young.

Bev Doolittle's famously intricate drybrush watercolors show young viewers detailed and accurate wildlife in their habitats, including the frog's world at the edge of a pond and the sweeping vista of the mountain goat's home. Reading the Wild helps children begin a lifelong journey of wonder and respect for the wild around us.

From the Inside Flap
We share the earth with hundreds of thousands of species. All around us, animals are going about their lives, eating, mating, organizing and playing. Even a city part has signs of animal life, if you look closely.

It's easy to think of ourselves as the center of all this life, particularly if you live in a city, but man is really part of a network of life on earth. Like all networks, each piece helps to hold together the whole. But we are the one animal with the power and intelligence to protect this sacred circle of life.

Reading the Wild, with Bev Doolittle's famously detailed watercolor paintings, gives us clues, from both Indian lore and modern science, to understanding the animal life around us. With a little knowledge and a willingness to pay attention, a walk through the woods, or even a single tree, can become a scavenger hunt for the signs and the wonders of animal life.

From a tiny frog that lives above the treeline in the Sierra Nevada, to the great grizzly bear who was associated with healing and medicine by many Native Peoples, Reading the Wild will fill you with wonder and from there it's just a small step to respect for, a preservation of, our wilderness.

From the Back Cover
Grizzly!

Native Americans knew a great deal about bears. Many tribes associated bears with healing. Perhaps this was because bears ate the roots and leaves of the plants Indians used for soothing aches and pains, and for helping wounds heal. The Lakota called these healing herbs bear medicine. In the language of the Zuni Pueblo, the word for doctor is the same as the word for bear. Whenever a Zuni Pueblo doctor went to help a sick person, he wore a string of bear claws around his neck. He would ask the spirit of the bear for help in curing illness and healing wounds. The Blackfeet Indian's name for grizzly bear translates to real bear, which grizzlies certainly are.

Bears do look and act like people, more that most large animals. They can stand on their hind legs and walk upright. When they sit, they hold their front legs up like arms. Bears are omnivores, so they eat what people eat - not just grass or only meat but vegetables and fruit, nuts, salad greens, mushrooms, and berries. They even go fishing!

About the Author
About the Artist - Bev Doolittle was born and raised in southern California and graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. She is a phenomenon in the limited-edition fine-art print world where her edition sizes and their sell-out rate are unsurpassed in the industry. Her camouflage Native American and wildlife art has defined a genre and inspired many imitators. She and her publisher, The Greenwich Workshop, have contributed over one million dollars in proceeds from sales of her limited edition prints to the National Wildlife Federation, the National Museum of the American Indian, The Yellowstone Grizzly Foundation, and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Bev lives in the California desert with her husband and son.

About the Author - Elise Maclay has collaborated with Bev Doolittle on six books. Most recently, she wrote The Earth Is My Mother, an illustrated adventure novel for young adults, based on a story concept by Bev and Jay Doolittle. Ms Maclay's poetry has appeared in Nature magazine, and she is the author of Approaching Autumn and Green Winter; two popular books of prose poems. She also works as a freelance travel and food writer for Connecticut Magazine and The New York Times. Elise lives near the shore in Connecticut. READING LEVEL: AGES 4-8

HARDCOVER, 32 PAGES 12.31 X 9.32