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Wild Cincinnati Book Review & GIVEAWAY {CLOSED}

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This giveaway is now closed the winners of the WILD CINCINNATI book are Jill Mays & Stephanie!  Congrats and check your inboxes 🙂

The warmer weather finally seems as if it’s here to stay, which makes me so happy!  I’m not a hardy  person, I don’t take the family exploring out in the wild in the colder months.  I prefer our hiking and outdoor adventures to take place in the more mild months.  So as you can imagine, I’m pretty excited about the kids starting Summer Vacation next week!  It will be time to make our list of adventures we want to have this summer.  And just in time for Summer adventuring, Clerisy Press has published a book by F. Lynne Bachleda called Wild Cincinnati.  This book also includes Northern Kentucky and is your guide for “animals, reptiles, insects, and plants to watch out for at home, at the park and in the woods”.

I was given a copy of this book to review for our readers, as well as two copies to give away, and when I picked up the books and brought them home my kids went “Wild” over them!  Before I even had a chance to read through the book they were taking turns poring over it themselves.  I think that’s my favorite thing about this guide…it’s perfect for any member of the family.  Even my youngest, who doesn’t read spent time looking at all the vivid pictures in the book.  It’s a great resource, and not just for a family who likes to hike or be out in nature…many of the bugs, animals and plants are found right in your own back yard!  There are tips for tending to bug bites, steps to take to de-skunk your pet, and much much more!  Really, just too much to list.  I think every family who spends time outdoors should have a copy of this book on hand.


In addition to receiving these books, I had the opportunity to chat with the author of this book, F. Lynne Bachleda.  She is a wonderful woman who has such interesting stories to tell and a kindness about her that made me feel like we were old friends by the end of our conversation.  She’s been a freelance writer, researcher and teacher for over 30 years and has written ten books that deal with nature, the outdoors, travel and history.  She says that she just loves the outdoors and would rather be out than in.  But she felt it was important for readers to know that she’s not what you would call and “extreme” outdoors person, she hasn’t hiked the Appalachian trail or gone snowboarding.  She writes from the perspective of “every person’s approach to the natural world”.  What she writes about is things that happen in her own back yard or local natural areas.  She told me that she is “all about educating the next generation and teaching them what’s dangerous and what’s not”.  And I feel like she’s already succeeded with that mission in my family…as I’ve watched my children read this book and garner new information about the “wildness” around them.  Lynne is from Nashville, but is writing regional guides about wildlife and Clericy Press contacted her about writing guides for them, and I’m so glad she started the “Wild” series with Cincinnati!  Next up is Chicago!  She used books and online sources to help her write the book.  She used many government sources such as the Ohio Division of Natural Resources, as well as local authorities like the CDC to learn about bugs and diseases that would be of concern in our area.

She told me about this interesting bit of research about coyotes, since they have such a bad rap in neighborhoods for terrorizing pets: “They did an extensive study of coyotes in Chicago.  They feel safe that the information extrapolates to other coyote populations.  They looked at what makes up the coyote’s diet and found that it was mainly rodent.  They said only 1% was household cats.  It’s not that they are on a high cat diet, they are actually in an ecological sense in a beneficiary niche to us because rodents aren’t so good.”

I also had to ask her about the Black Bear since it’s mentioned in her book.  I asked how likely it is to see a Black Bear in our area, and this is what she had to say:  “Not likely at all, but one of the scientific resources that I consulted indicated that Black Bears are endangered here.  But on the outside chance I wanted to put that information in, and because bears are such flat out magnificent creatures and I want to teach people about them.  They are endangered here and there hasn’t been a sighting in the immediate Cincinnati area in about 30 years.  But if they are out there, it’s possible but not likely and it’s good to know how to behave around them if you do see them.”

And my last question for her came from Max, who wanted to know what he should do if he saw a snake in the back yard.  She said if the child is alone they should just walk away and leave the snake alone, but for adults, if you see a snake in the backyard, she said you can “Get a broom handle and just gently nudge it along out of wherever you want it to be.  Not jabbing it to make it run, because the snake is not doing anything wrong.  The only venomous snake in this area is the northern copperhead.  The trick with the northern copperhead is that it’s superbly camofloged, so you’re not likely to see it if you are walking in the woods, so you might accidentally step on it.  That’s really the only snake you have to worry about.”

Wild Cincinnati Collage

 She wants to foster the sense of wonder with the natural world, and teach everyone to respect the boundaries of creatures you encounter.  Just because you CAN mess with something doesn’t mean you should.

Where can you find the book Wild Cincinnati?

Roebling Point Books and Coffee (GREAT place to find all sorts of local books!)

Park + Vine

Joseph Beth Booksellers

Barnes and Noble

REI

Roads Rivers and Trails

WIN WIN WIN ::  The WILD CINCINNATI GIVEAWAY ~

TWO lucky FFC readers will a copy of the book: WILD CINCINNATI.  So how can you enter to win? It’s easy. Simply answer question number one below. Additional items are bonus entries. Leave a separate comment on this post for each one you complete. A total of five entries are possible.

    1. Why would you like to win this book for your family?

Bonus Entries

    1. Sign up for our Enewsletter: http://eepurl.com/bxdIbnofollow
    2. Check out Family Friendly Cincinnatifollow on Facebook
    3. Follow us on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/FamFriendlyCinfollow (where you can find lots of other great ideas like recipes, crafts and so much more!)
    4. Tweet about this giveaway, including @FamFriendlyCin in your Tweet.

That’s it…that’s FIVE ways to enter which means FIVE chances to win!  Winner will be drawn (randomly) Friday, May 24 at 2PM and notified via email (we’ll also announce it our our Facebook page). Winners will have 24 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.

Good luck!

 Disclosure: The prizes in this giveaway were provided by Clerisy Press & Menasha Ridge Press. We were also provided with a copy of the book for review.

When not blogging for Family Friendly Cincinnati, you can find Katie writing at her personal blog, www.thelittlethingsjournal.blogspot.com. 

 


Comments

  16. Alice Rericha says

    My girls are very curious about nature and how the world works. I’m sure they would find this book enthralling!

  17. Jennifer Junk says

    I would love to win this for my daughter….she is such a nature lover and this would be a great resource to have fun with this summer. 🙂

  21. Jennifer Scheidler says

    Our backyard is heavily wooded with all sorts of fun creatures and a creek! We’d love to use this as a guide to what we see here and all our adventures around town.

  26. Stephanie Brown Eversole says

    I would love to win this for my family… they spend too much time on the couch!

  30. Jill Mays says

    My grandchildren would love this book (as would I). They are fascinated with nature and the outdoors.

  32. Lori says

    The kids love the outdoors, but I was a city girl raised in an apartment-I’m sure I would learn much from this book!

  35. Stephanie says

    My family and I love the outdoors,and this book would be a great addition to our nature walks!

  40. Karianne Brown says

    A. My son is currently obsessed with being outside and especially digging for worms and finding birds. We also love to read. This would be a great way to teach him more about the wildlife right outside our door!

  44. Kara G. says

    I think I saw this book at the Cincinnati Nature Center also. I’m on a strict book budget (self-imposed but tough for this bibliophile/stay-at-home mama!) so we primarily utilize the library. Except we don’t carry library books with us on our hiking/exploring adventures! This book looked exceptional and valuable to a learning library for our littles; it is on “the list” because of how many questions our littles have about what they are discovering, that I later forget to follow up on. Would be nice to have it handy when we are out! Thanks!

  47. Joleen says

    We spend a good portion of the summer outside and my 3 boys would love this local field guide!

  51. ClMaxie says

    Would love to spice up our day trip outings, and this book looks like it will do the trick!

  56. Stephanie says

    My boys have just been going crazy over all of the wildlife we’ve been seeing in our own back yard and the local park. This would be a great “field guide” to go along with what we are already learning and talking about!! 🙂

  57. sharon wagner says

    MY husband is a farmer- I am always looking for exciting things to do with the girls when they are home with me. They love nature and bugs, plans- This book would be a crowd favorite. I hope we win. Thanks

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