Page 87 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #12

WILD AT HOME

FESTIVE TREATS
Snow akes

and stars

wrapping paper

EDENPROJECT.COM, £3.50 (3M)

With thousands of kilometres of
wrapping paper destined for landfill
on Boxing Day, keep your eye out
for gift-wrap that’s recycled (and
recyclable) or that carries the FSC
logo. These handsome products
from educational charity the Eden
Project – whose ethos is to connect
us with the living world – are made
from recycled paper. Adorned with
delicate gold snowflakes and stars,
and satisfyingly thick and papery to
touch, these 3m rolls are supplied
to the Eden Project by East of India, YOUNGER READERS Hannah Bailey opt for something else,
which is involved in sustainable tree When the offering 13 stories about the early
plantations in Indonesia. Open your experimentation of animal forms in a
presents with love and care; salvage Whales Walked bid to help younger readers understand
and re-use whatever you can. how we got here. Besides the
BY DOUGAL DIXON, WORDS & PICTURES, £12.99
Sarah McPherson eponymous whale, there are chapters on
Since evolution has become early dinosaur flight and warm-blooded
Recycled paper a popular primary school crocodiles, alongside more familiar
needn’t cost the topic in the UK, a fleet of stories of snakes with legs and fish with
Earth – just £3.50 books on the subject has hit feet. Delivered with playfulness, colour
per roll.
the shelves. Most and charm, Dixon’s aim is clearly to
opt for the all-too-familiar tale of the ‘show and don’t tell’, drawing readers
intrepid Darwin aboard the HMS Beagle in with wonder, rather than dry
and finches in the Galápagos, or the evolutionary exposition. The book
peppered moths that would follow. achieves this with great success.
Here, Dougal Dixon and illustrator Jules Howard Zoologist and wildlife writer

ADOPT FOR XMAS
YOUNGER READERS YOUNGER READERS
WILDLIFE AID FOUNDATION A Book of Bears: Know Your Nature:
The WAF deals with more than
20,000 incidents per year. At home with bears British wildlife
Adopting a fox, hedgehog, deer, around the world BYANDREAPINNINGTONAND CAZ BUCKINGHAM,
owl or bird of prey helps this
FINE FEATHER PRESS, £8.99
sanctuary continue its work. BY KATIE VIGGERS, LAURENCE KING, £11.99
£24.95; wildlifeaid.org.uk Nature must compete for
Ursids are a cultural children’s attention these
phenomenon, immortalised days, so any book aimed at
INTERNATIONAL OTTER
in many children’s getting kids to turn off their
SURVIVAL FUND
characters, from Paddington devices and tune into wildlife
Adopting an otter goes towards
and Winnie-the-Pooh to, er, should be applauded. This
the cost of food and care at
Bungle. So, this fun-filled accessible book is designed as a first step
IOSF, until an individual is
look at the world’s eight species is a must for youngsters keen to learn more. It’s not
ready for release.
for any child under 10. The illustrations a field guide, but contains a small
From £19.99; otter.org
are cartoon-like but there are plenty of selection of Britain’s diverse flora and
hard facts, too. The dietary details can feel fauna. Each spread represents a category
SCOTTISH WILDLIFE TRUST
a trifle misleading (sun bears don’t only of our wildlife. The
Pu ns, red squirrels, seals
eat honey- fun quiz at the back
and more can be adopted
related products, tests how much young
to fund work protecting
surely), but minds have absorbed.
Scotland’s wildlife. From £18;
that’s a minor Mike Dilger Naturalist
scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk
quibble. JF and broadcaster

December 2018 BBC Wildlife 87