Grades PreK-2 Backpack Explorer: 10-Book Nature Series

Jump-start nature curiosity with the best-selling Backpack Explorer series for ages 4-8!

Packed with prompts, activities, interactive field guides, and sensory scavenger hunts, each Backpack Explorer book gets kids outside and exploring the world around them. The best-selling Backpack Explorer series has become a favorite of nature-curious kids and families.

This 10 Volume series includes:

ON THE NATURE TRAIL:

From worms, birds, and spiders to trees, flowers, and clouds, young explorers learn about nature all around them. Find out what different animals eat, how plants grow, and how identify fungi and lichen.

BUG HUNT:

Junior naturalists will love spotting insects while walking in the woods, playing in a park, or searching around their own front door. Photo field guides help them identify fliers, crawlers, and pollinators, while scavenger hunts and cool bug facts boost the insect intrigue. Projects such as Weave a Web or Make a Bug Hotel encourage outside play.

BIRD WATCH:

Kids can begin a lifelong hobby by learning the basics of birding, from identifying common birds and listening for bird songs to learning about habitat and migration. How does a bird build a nest? What do different birds eat? How do feathers work? Why do birds have such a variety of bills and types of feet? 

DISCOVERING TREES:

Curious kids will stop, look, listen, and touch as they search for types of leaves, count tree rings, gather pinecones, and feel bark. Each page is packed with prompts and activities, including field guides for identifying common trees, simple craft projects such as Make a Nature Mask from colorful leaves, and information about how trees grow and why we need them. 

BEACH WALK:

Learn about ocean animals and plants, identify shorebirds, discover the life found in tide pools, and watch the waves while learning about the tides. Make a stick sundial, build fanciful sea creatures, and learn about different marine habitats. 

ROCK HUNT:

Learn basic geology, with facts about landforms and igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Create a rock collection, sorted by color, shape, texture, and size. Search for rocks and minerals and learn how to classify them.

CITY WALK:

Discover hidden signs of nature in the city with this fun, interactive nature activity book for kids aged 4 to 8. Search and find birds, wildflowers, leaves, trees, squirrels, and more in urban areas, from green parks to apartment rooftops to parking lots. 

DISCOVERING PLANTS AND FLOWERS:

Head outside and learn about the amazing plants and flowers all around! Search for ferns, wildflowers, grasses, water plants, edible plants, and more. Create art with dandelions, learn how plants “eat” and “breathe,” and discover how pollination works.

NIGHT WALK:

Step outside after dark and explore the outdoors! Packed with nighttime scavenger hunts, flashlight games, and field guides for nocturnal animals, insects, and birds, this nighttime activity book—complete with a real magnifying glass, stickers, and a fold-out journal—is the perfect take-along nature exploration guide for kids aged 4 to 8. In the eighth book of the Backpack Explorer series from the Editors of Storey Publishing, junior naturalists search for owls, bats, salamanders, stars, planets, and more. 

WINTER WALK:

Search for frost on the grass, snowflakes in the air, animal tracks, birds, and signs of insects. Learn how icicles form, which animals hibernate and which stay active, and why we have a winter solstice. Build snow creatures and ice sculptures and enjoy the magic of winter!