Secret Stories of Nature: A Field Guide to Uncover Our Planet's Past

Ages 7 to 10, Grades 2 to 5

Nature holds fascinating secrets, from unusual features, to links between species, to insights into our amazing planet's past – we just have to know where to find them. In this beautiful field guide to the secret stories of nature readers are invited to journey around the world – through wild forests, over mountains high, to the bottom of our oceans and even as close as our own back gardens. Readers will come away with a wealth of knowledge and discover how looking at nature today can help us understand and unlock mysteries from long ago, from bygone weather to the dinosaurs. The fascinating information from children's author Saskia Gwinn is brought to life with meticulously detailed, vintage-style artwork from Vasilisa Romanenko, making this book a true treasure trove for the whole family to enjoy. 

In every part of the globe, in every pocket of the sea, in ancient ground beneath your feet, up tall mountains you can’t see, in stones, in plants, in birds and beasts, lie nature’s secret stories.

This beautiful field-guide explores the histories and mysteries hidden in the wild, just waiting to be shared.

Readers are invited on a journey around our wonderful world, through wild forests, over mountains high, to the bottom of our oceans and the earth beneath us. Each chapter investigates a different environment, and within, the pages tell the secret stories of the animals, plants, and natural phenomena of these habitats. Some secrets tell us of links between species, or unusual adaptations and features, others tell us how nature has evolved, and many hold the keys to understanding our planet’s past.

Readers will come away with a wealth of knowledge and discover how looking at nature today can help us understand and unlock mysteries from long ago, from bygone weather to the dinosaurs.

They’ll learn how resin and rock can preserve long-lost plants and creatures, how the rings inside coral skeletons can reveal weather patterns from the distant past, how layers of the seabed can indicate a previous mass extinction occurred, how ice can trap gases and tell us the make-up of our ancient atmosphere, and much more.

The text also touches on how these secrets are often uncovered through scientific research, observation, fossil records, as well as using modern inventions and techniques like carbon dating.

Spreads at the back of the book encourage readers to search for secrets in nature close to home and explore how we can all help protect the animals, plants and natural features of today so we can continue to enjoy and learn from them.

The fascinating information is brought to life with meticulously detailed, vintage-style artwork from Vasilisa Romanenko, making this book a true treasure trove for the whole family to enjoy.

About the Author

Saskia Gwinn has spent nearly 20 years carefully crafting beautiful books to inspire kids of all ages. She has worked as Head of Children’s Non-fiction for Bloomsbury Publishing, as Editorial Director for A&C Black and as Editor for educational publishers and magazines. She has written and published award-winning books for every age and on every topic from how time began to the silliest things in the world today. Saskia lives in Hertfordshire with her two boys who hope dinosaurs will one day revisit Earth but, in the meantime, tells them that everything on the planet has an equally exciting story to tell.Vasilisa Romanenko is a New England-based illustrator, designer, and fine artist. Her artwork depicts the mystery, beauty, and fragility of nature through the use of botanical elements, intricate patterns, and animals. She sees her paintings as windows into a magical world, much like the one she enjoyed getting lost in as a child while reading fairy tales. The lush blooming gardens, birds, and insects in her work are all used to explore the human spirit and its connection to nature. Vasilisa's primary medium is acrylic on canvas, although she works with watercolor, ink, and digital mediums as well.