by Eric Hogan and Tara Hungerford
Firefly Books
978-0-2281-0337-0
32 pp.
Ages 3-6
November 2021
If your children are familiar with Scout and the Gumboot Kids, a CBC Kids' TV series, then you're already aware of the show's exploration of nature for young children. To date, creators Eric Hogan and Tara Hungerford have transferred those stories into 8 picture books, all based on investigations into the natural world. The latest, The Case of the Hanging Food Catcher, has young readers joining mice Scout and Daisy in the field as they amass clues to solve their newest mystery.
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| From The Case of the Hanging Food Catcher by Eric Hogan and Tara Hungerford |
As Scout checks out his fall pumpkins, Daisy declares that she nearly walked into a hanging food catcher. Together they note the clues that might help them understand. The clues include the gate, silky thread, and a fly, leading them to a beautiful spider web as it catches a fly. In keeping with the education aspect of the series, Scout and Daisy do their own research on spider webs and ties it into their own appreciation of the natural world and some delicious food of their own.
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| From The Case of the Hanging Food Catcher by Eric Hogan and Tara Hungerford |
I don't know who creates the felted mice or their woollen sweaters, hats and scarves, but that labour-intensive work has paid off in charming characters and scenes. (Not surprising that there are plush toys of Scout and Daisy available.) By wrapping very simple nature stories for young children in these characters and scenes, Eric Hogan and Tara Hungerford are speaking to children at their level without talking down to them. They take a basic scientific method approach to exploring nature, embed it in an uncomplicated plot, and enhance that learning and entertainment with some science–notes on the spider's morphology and behaviour are included–and a nature craft of weaving. The Gumboot Kids Nature Mysteries may not be intricate and highly detailed but they shouldn't be for this age level. They provide meaningful introductions to a variety of topics based in the natural world by captivating youngsters with delightful characters and inspiring creativity and an interest in that outside world. With The Case of the Hanging Food Catcher, children will probably never look at a spider or its web in the same way again, and instead be inspired to organize their own explorations of the natural world.
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Gumboot Kids Nature Mystery series
The Case of the Vanishing Caterpillar (2019)
The Case of the Story Rock (2019)
The Case of the Wooden Timekeeper (2019)
The Case of the Growing Bird Feeder (2019)
The Case of the Singing Ocean (2020)
The Case of the Buzzing Honey Makers (2020)
The Case of the Shrinking Friend (2021)
The Case of the Hanging Food Catcher (2021)
