Seashore Watcher / Complete Minibeast Explorer’s Kit

Seashore Watcher
Maya Plass
QED

If you are heading to the coast and in particular the seashore, then here’s a handy information book, cleverly enclosed within a zipped waterproof plastic folder.

From pebbles to plankton, corals to crabs and starfish to sharks, the seashore comes to life through photographs,

facts, tips, safety recommendations and more.

Whether you want to be a seashore watcher observing seals, seabirds or dolphins and porpoises, try your hand as a sand sculptor, get creative using things you’ve collected on the beach, help with beach cleaning, or even collect seaweed and try the recipe for jelly, you’re bound to find something to make your seaside visit exciting and worthwhile.

The back matter includes notes for adults, a glossary and index.

You’ll certainly get more out of your seaside foray if you tuck a copy of this informative and engaging book, compiled by marine and coastal ecologist Maya Plass, in your bag.

National Trust: Complete Minibeast Explorer’s Kit
Robyn Swift and Hannah Alice
Nosy Crow

Here’s the ideal thing to encourage children to get out and discovering about the wealth of minibeasts that are all around us.

Enclosed within the backpack are a guide book for explorers featuring more than 60 creatures and containing a wealth of information about identification, habitats, lifecycles and more; a small blank notebook in which to record observations, and a magnifying minibeast collector for enthusiasts to look closely at beetles, caterpillars, spiders, slugs, worms and anything else of interest.

I’ve just returned from a walk along the canal not far from where I live and was able on my return, (I hadn’t taken the book) to identify the small red beetle I saw on cow parsley as a Soldier Beetle using the illustration from the guide book. Hannah Alice’s clear illustrations are somewhat stylised but easily recognisable.

In addition to the fascinating facts provided by Robyn Swift – did you know that even if a cockroach has its head cut off, it can live for up to nine days? I certainly didn’t before reading it here -at the back of the book there’s an index, a glossary, a quiz, a scale guide and a classification chart.

Just the kind of kit to whet the appetites of potential young naturalists.