In One Yard: Close to Nature (2015) includes more than 500 high quality color photographs (all taken by the author) of living organisms in the author’s 1/6 acre (.07 hectare) urban yard in Portland, Oregon, recorded over a 4 year period (2011-2015).

This 138-page, softcover book (Dimensions: 9 inches wide by 11 inches tall), printed on glossy 100-pound paper includes sections on: dragonfly and damselfly larvae and adults; frog eggs, tadpoles, and adults; bumble bees and diverse wild bees; a variety of wasps, including paper wasps, spider wasps, mud dauber wasps, cuckoo wasps, leucospid parasitic wasps, and yellow jacket wasps.

The life cycle of many organisms is briefly described in the text, and illustrated with photos. Various flies are shown, including all stages in the life cycle of common midge flies (Chironomids). Aquatic and terrestrial worms are also seen, as are centipedes, millipedes, crustaceans (including woodlice, “roly polys,” and daphnids, “water fleas”), green algae (including Volvox swimming toward light), and single-celled protists (Stentors).

A wide variety of arachnids are seen, including more than ten pages devoted to spiders, two pages of dazzling mites (some have red-and-white striped legs), harvestmen (“daddy longlegs”), and two pages of intriguing pseudoscorpions (which are smaller than most ants!), which the author was able keep alive in a container in his basement for more than ten years.

The book includes two photographs of techniques used to acquire these images, including a setup used to photograph Volvox green algae at 5X magnification.

Scientific names, when known, are used throughout the book. Many generous scientists assisted in identifying organisms.

The book includes a 4-page annotated bibliography of more than 150 outstanding books. A 2-page index containing more than 200 index entries, is conveniently located on the last two pages of the book, making it easy to access.

Sir David Attenborough received a copy of this book, and wrote the author that he found it “splendid” and that “It spurs me on.”

Choice magazine published a review of the book, written by Professor Tara Bal, Ph.D.: “In beautiful full-color macrophotography, Hatch takes readers on a micro safari through his own backyard . . . Recommended for lower-division undergraduates and general readers” (November 2016).

SB & F (Science Books and Films), the review journal published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in Washington, DC, chose this book as “one of the best science books of the year.” The author has shared this book with many hundreds of students over the past six years, and has observed hundreds of students perusing the book on their own, and notices that even six-year-old students are often captivated by the large photos on the big pages of this book. The heavyweight, 100-pound glossy paper this book is printed on suits young children well, and is also appreciated by older readers. In One Yard: Close to Nature Book 2 (2020), see below, expands its coverage to include sections on fungi, lichens, mosses, liverworts, and seeds. Its size is smaller, it is hardcover, and it is easier for an individual reader to hold and enjoy. But the much larger In One Yard: Close to Nature (2015) is a better book to read aloud to a classroom of students, and its huge photos are appealing to many children.

In One Yard: Close to Nature Book 2 (2020)

About the Author

Dimensions: 9 x 11

Weight: 1 lb 9 oz

Softcover; 100-pound glossy paper

Hatch, Warren A. 2015. In One Yard: Close to Nature. Portland, Oregon. 138 pages.

ISBN 978-1-884195-65-5

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