Adirondack Almanac: A Guide to the Natural Year

by Tom Kalinowski, Sheri Amsel

How do birds stay warm in January? What causes meadows to become full of wildflowers in May? Why is August the best time for young animals to develop survival skills? And what is the primary reason brook trout spawn in October? In Adirondack Almanac, Tom Kalinowski chronicles a year in the natural world of the Adirondacks, vividly bringing to life the hidden events that occur there each month. Beautifully illustrated by North Country artist, Sheri Amsel, Adirondack Almanac is both a fascinating introduction to the unseen world of natural cycles and an entertaining account of life among the animals and plants of the spectacular Adirondack region.

206 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

Reviews

[R. C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was obviously meant to be read a bit at a time, month by month over the course of a year, as a kind of devotional to nature. I had to read it all at once so I could schedule it into my lesson plans. I expected to be overloaded with terms the author had long forgotten were technical, left to find the magic in nature for myself by an author who had been born with an exaggerated sense of that. I was blown away by the contrast of what I found. It's written like a storybook, one or two steps towards the grown-up from Thornton Burgess' position. I love it and am excited to make it part of our annual cycle of readings.