leaf & tree guide: 3-in-1 collectors kit

Backyard Explorer is the kit that begins with something kids do naturally--picking up leaves, collecting pine cones, stuffing their pockets with acorns--and turns it into seasons full of educational fun. Published in 1989, the original edition of the Backyard Explorer Kit was a great success, with 256,000 copies in print. Redbook wrote, "With leaf and tree projects for all year round, budding naturalists will be amazed by the adventures waiting in their own backyards."

Now this unique outdoor activity kit--combining the Leaf & Tree Guide, the Leaf Collecting Album, and a durable plastic leaf collecting envelope--is even better. First, new material is added to the book, so that it covers more trees (over 100) and sends kids off on more nature hunts--not only the Great Leaf Hunt, but challenges to find winged seeds, leaf galls, spiny husks, and more. Second, the look is updated, with new fresh and fun illustrations--full-color in the guide book, two-color in the album.

But the heart of the book is unchanged, and that's what makes it so distinct and successful: By categorizing leaves and needles into twenty recognizable shapes (smooth, toothed, hand-shaped, etc), it makes identification extremely easy and intuitive. So kids don't need to know the difference between a Hickory and a Tupelo before searching out the leaves--they just need to find a light-bulb shaped simple leaf (Tupelo) and the feather-shaped compound leaf (Hickory). Then add them to their album--and their knowledge.