"Go Wild in New York City" Book Review

Go Wild in New York City teaches children the science and history of NYC's water, rocks, air, plants, bugs, animals, birds, fish, and food, and offers resources for helping to preserve them. Its ecological lessons are beautifully illustrated and engaging.

Put that party hat away—Go Wild in New York City is about the natural wildlife in the Concrete Jungle. It's a book for middle-school students, but adults will be wild about it too.

Go Wild inspires young explorers to bird-watch in Jamaica Bay, climb billion-year-old rocks in Central Park, ride a subway car through a fault line, identify coyote tracks in city parks, and even plant a rooftop garden.

There is a lot of information in the book, without being overwhelming. It's exciting to learn because it offers activities and quizzes and its lessons are beautifully illustrated and engaging. (Thanks to Kate Lake's beautiful scientific art, kids can read about photosynthesis without their eyes glazing over.)

Both young and old can break the ice at parties with such appetizing facts as when a female cockroach becomes pregnant, she lays eggs until she dies. There are so many great nuggets:

• NYC houses have stoops because in the 19th century the streets were covered with piles of horse manure
• Water reaches the sixth story of NYC buildings solely by gravity from the downhill path of water from upstate reservoirs
• Cockroaches probably came to America on the Mayflower

Unlike many environmental books, this one finds nature in the city. To help care for the city wilds, it offers practical tips for recycling, keeping rivers and marshes clean, and saving water by "singing shorter shower songs."

I highly recommend reading this book—and sharing it with your city friends and their kids.