Citizen Scientists: Be a Part of Scientific Discovery from Your Own Backyard

Gr 4-6--An engaging book of seasonal projects for nature lovers (and their parents and teachers as well). Burns explains in her informally sociable text, "Citizen science is the study of our world by the people who live in it." Beginning with fall, she delves into migratory monarchs, instructing youngsters how to catch, tag, and release these long-distance flitters, and goes on to provide a history and a geography of monarch migration patterns. She introduces two young "Monarch Watchers" (ages seven and six), presents a list of necessary equipment, and offers a quick quiz (answers at the back of the book). She repeats this format for winter (joining in the Christmas Bird Count); spring "frogging" at night (identifying mating calls); and summer ("ladybugging"). Resource sections containing a list of books, field guides, and websites are included for each critter, along with pointers for finding more. Burns is careful to emphasize "gentleness" in catching, tagging, photographing, and releasing specimens. Crisp color photos flow through the pages, many showing kids of various ages hot on the trail of frog sounds or birdcalls. Interested readers will enjoy many of the suggested titles, and a side trip into such elegant offerings as Pamela Turner's The Frog Scientist (2009) or Sy Montgomery's The Tarantula Scientist (2004, both Houghton Harcourt) might show them how far these early explorations might lead. Handsome and challenging.--Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY

"Whether they live in a city, in the suburbs, or on a farm, children can feel the excitement of being involved in real science." —Science

"...engaging..." —School Library Journal, starred

"...provides instruction for children interested in joining hands-on research efforts and highlights the contributions children have made in studying monarch butterflies, birds, ladybugs, and frogs." —The Boston Globe

"Burns brings much-deserved attention to four remarkable scientific projects that enlist regular people in data collection." —Horn Book

"For curious children and teachers alike, this is an ideal introduction to science activities that leave no child inside." —Kirkus

"Throughout this handsome volume, exceptionally clear color photos illustrate the animals mentioned and the adults and children observing them." —Booklist