Rating: 
Summary: Good reference work
Review: A well-organized and surprisingly comprehensive guide considering the breadth of its coverage. It's the one guide to have if you're having only one, and even if you have dozens of other guides it can help fill in the gaps and be a source for quick reference.
Rating: 
Summary: A good, basic survey of North American wildlife
Review: A well-organized and surprisingly comprehensive guide considering the breadth of its coverage. It's the one guide to have if you're having only one, and even if you have dozens of other guides it can help fill in the gaps and be a source for quick reference.
Rating:
Summary: Best All Around Field Guide
Review: Bought this book years ago from a Reader's Digest offer. Moved to the Northwoods of Wisconsin 6 years ago and have not found a better all around guide to ALL of the flora and fauna I encounter here. I have specific guides to wildflowers, birds etc. but I usually find what I'm looking for in any catagory in this book faster and easier and more frequently than any other. I just bought another copy as a gift for my son & his family who also live Up North.
Rating:
Summary: Best All Around Field Guide
Review: Bought this book years ago from a Reader's Digest offer. Moved to the Northwoods of Wisconsin 6 years ago and have not found a better all around guide to ALL of the flora and fauna I encounter here. I have specific guides to wildflowers, birds etc. but I usually find what I'm looking for in any catagory in this book faster and easier and more frequently than any other. I just bought another copy as a gift for my son & his family who also live Up North.
Rating: 
Summary: Great resource, but "Updated Edition" is untrue
Review: I am a librarian, and my library has the 1982 edition of this book. When I saw there was an "updated edition," I bought it for the library so we could have a current version of the book. Well, the book just arrived, and lo and behold, the "updated edition" is the 2002 *printing* of the *same book*! Don't be fooled; this is the same information they sold you 22 years ago. The only thing new about it is the banner across the front that says "Updated Edition."
Rating:
Summary: Great, Excellant, Outstanding!
Review: I bought this book when it first came out several years ago. It has been invaluable to me and my children in identifying various flora, and fauna. This book was the single " most read " book in my household. The cover was tattered, and pages were starting to fall out because they were so well " dog-eared ". I loaned it to a friend, and have not seen it since! That's why I'm ordering a new one. It is a wonderful book for everyone that spends a lot of time out-doors!
Rating:
Summary: I love this book
Review: I just bought my second copy of this book. The first one I bought in 1986, and I left the book outside and it was rained on. I reordered one the next day, because I am always carrying it around with me. The bird section is what I use the most, but I have identified many trees with it, turtles, lizards, and I like to reference the small mammal section to find out about their habits, ie. the raccoon. Since I use the bird pictures the most, they are extremely accurate. I recognized a bird that I had never seen before but I recognized it because I had seen it in this book. The book may not be a field guide, which are normally broken into separate books, but if you want just one good book, then this is it. I can't live without mine. I never use my field guides.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Illustration for quick identification
Review: I own many books specific to field identification of Alaska plants. On a recent trip to Ketchikan none of my books were able to assist me in the identification of a specific plant. A local person pulled out her copy of North American Wildlife (NAW). In an instant we located a colored illustation of "orange hawksbeard" . The illustation was so accurate right down to the fine hairs on its long stem. At home I located the same plant in my large treatise of Alaskan plants. I would never had been able to ID this plant with my very expensive treatise. The simple generic black and white drawings in my treatise are vastly inferior to the rich color and detail of NAW. I have been unable to locate this book so my friends in Ketchikan suggested Amazon.com. I'm thrilled that my own copy is on its way. An intertesing side bar is that my treatise of Alaska Plants states that orange hawksbeard is an introduced plant only known to found on the Glacier Hyw in Juneau.
Rating:
Summary: What a family book!
Review: I received this book as a young child and read it cover to cover over the years. It was an invaluable family resource that was kept in the kitchen and travelled with us. I took the book with me several years ago when I went to college, and my mother missed it so much that she requested a copy also.It's not as precise as regional field guides on specific types of wildlife, but if you're going to keep one nautre book this is the one to have.
Rating:
Summary: If you want to learn, this is not the book.
Review: I should have known that Reader's Digest is not the organization to look to for becomming informed. This book was a condensed version of facts about wildlife. The habitats on most animals were either incorrect, or very incomplete. In fact, there were very few species even included. If you are looking to get more information on your state's bird, forget about finding it in this book. If you are looking for all the members of the wolf family, forget about it. Basically, you should just forget about buying this book! If you want to actually learn, try finding publications from organizations dedicated to wildlife.
|
