Yellowstone National Park: Eye of the Grizzly

We read this book with our two children, ages 6 and 8, during our week-long trip to Yellowstone. They loved it. It combines adventure and excitement with many details and facts about Yellowstone National Park. A great way to introduce the Park to kids, or to accompany you on a trip to see Yellowstone in person.

I'm crazy about these books by Mike Graf! I love national parks, and Mr. Graf has come up with a wonderful series to showcase the parks. The books are a combination of fiction and nonfiction. The books balance a fictional family's adventures in a park with nonfiction factoids and maps. There are color photographs, black and white photographs, and sketches in the books, and all of these make the books very visually appealing to kids. In Eye of the Grizzly, the Parkers visit Yellowstone National Park. The book lets readers "see" all of the fantastic thermal features in Yellowstone, and the readers have wildlife encounters too. Just wait until you read about the grizzly! I think the books in this series are fabulous reads for students in grades 3-7. Many years ago I checked out a copy of Ranger in Skirts by Shirley Sargent. That book started a love of national parks for me. Mr. Graf's books will do the same for readers today.

The author came to visit our 8 year old's class (in Nevada) during Reading Week. Our son raved about the book being read, so we bought it. We found the book to be exciting and kept our son's attention all the way through. He enjoyed the descriptions about the animals and the national park. When he was finished, our son said he wanted to visit the park and all the national parks. (It doesn't get better than that!). We then bought all the other books in the series and read them all (Tail of the Scorpion (Grand Canyon), Harrowing Ascent up Half Dome (Yosemite), and Danger in the Narrows (Zion/Bryce). The books weave in themes about the environment, protecting the environment, and how people with disabilities use our parks. Highly recommend this series. We are waiting for the next one to come out!