For the child who stops to look
Choosing a nature book for kids ages 6 to 12
Start with what the child wants to do: follow an expedition, look up animals, or explore maps. TinyShelf's Field Atlas follows a personalized journey through American habitats. DK's The Animal Book offers broad animal reference; National Geographic Kids' United States Atlas focuses on U.S. geography. The pages below show how the TinyShelf book reads.
See their Field AtlasFrom $69.99 USD · Free contiguous US shipping
Compare the editions and notebook ↓
- 82 pages
- 8.5 × 11 in hardcover
- 7 habitats
- 39 animals to meet
- 50 states
- Choose one home chapter
- Ages 6–12
- Read together, then explore
Read together at 6 to 8
Use the short expedition passage first. Ask the child to find one labeled animal, then look together at the reference page. The story, pictures and field notes offer several ways into the same habitat, so a child can explore the page before reading every paragraph.
Look things up at 8 to 12
The Atlas's reference paragraphs, animal labels and maps give older readers more to study. Choose the book for the subject they keep asking about: American habitats, a wide range of animals, or the geography of all the states. Read an actual sample page to judge the text for your child.
Turn one page into one outing
Pick a field skill from the book, such as sitting quietly or getting down low to look. On a walk, try that skill without expecting to find the same animals as the painting. Write down the place, date and what you notice. The optional Field Notebook has blank log and sketch pages for those observations.
A face they know in a world to explore
That little explorer looks familiar.
Add a photo and preview the personalized cover and selected sample pages. Choose the child alone or with one grown-up from a second photo.
Shown: our Hazel sample. Selected expedition surfaces are personalized; reference pages keep their reviewed layouts.
Take a closer look inside
Open a habitat scene, then study one of its animals. Each view pairs the book’s pages with something to notice together.
Start at the beaver pond
A short story opens the habitat. Labels and a look-and-find list give your child somewhere to start looking.
Water is a habitat
Fresh surface waters, such as streams, rivers, ponds and lakes, provide habitat, a natural home, for many kinds of plants and animals.
Find the American beaver in the painting. Then look for the wood duck, river otter and green darner listed in the field notes.
Where would you begin looking?Reveal the answer
Start at the pond. Follow a label to an animal, then use the list to choose what to find next.
Compare the reference books.
For broader animal reference, read our comparison with DK's The Animal Book. For a geography atlas that profiles every state, read our National Geographic Kids comparison. Both comparisons link to the publishers' descriptions and identify the editions.
Make it their kind of expedition
Choose their Atlas and field notebook.
Every Atlas includes their photo-based character, a chosen home-state chapter and your dedication. Add one supported grown-up at no extra cast charge.
Personalized Field Atlas
82-page hardcover · 39 animals
$69.99Choose this combination →Flora + Fauna Atlas
98-page hardcover · 39 animals + 26 plants
$84.99Choose this combination →Atlas + Field Notebook
82-page hardcover + separate 56-page softcover
$84.99Choose this combination →Flora + Fauna + Field Notebook
98-page hardcover + separate 56-page softcover
$99.99Choose this combination →Prices in USD. Free delivery to the contiguous US and Washington, DC. All 50 states are available as chapter choices. Boxes, ribbons, magnifiers and other styling props are not included.
Read the credits
Natural history with review behind it.
The following credits apply to the national natural-history chapters. The home-state chapter varies by edition and sits outside that review.
See the full review credits →- Reviewed in consultation with the American Museum of Natural History
- Reviewed in partnership with the National Wildlife Federation
- Bird accounts reviewed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Reviewers were paid for their time. Any errors that remain are ours.
Before their expedition begins.
Can a six-year-old use the Field Atlas?
It is designed for ages 6 to 12, with short passages for reading together at about 6 to 8. The longer reference text is aimed at independent readers around 8 to 12. Read the sample to judge the fit for your child.
Is this a homeschool curriculum?
The Atlas is a natural-history book you can use for shared reading, reference and observation. We do not claim it is a complete curriculum or aligned to a particular school standard.
Does it cover every animal in America?
The seven habitat chapters feature 39 animals, with additional wildlife studies in the selected home-state chapter. It is a focused introduction. A broad animal encyclopedia serves a different reference need.
Make room for a little explorer
They already know whose book this is.
A familiar face on the cover. Their state at the end. A whole expedition in between.
See the Field Atlas