Cabinet of Curiosities: A Kids Guide to Collecting and Understanding the Wonders of the Natural World - Hardcover

Grice, Gordon

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 076116927X ISBN 13: 9780761169277

Publisher: Workman, 2015

Synopsis

What kid doesn't love picking up shells on the beach, or finding a bird's egg or snake's rattle, or-treasure of treasures-a fossil? Then taking it home to put on a shelf or in a shoebox? That same impulse has, since the Age of Exploration, motivated collectors to turn their passion into amazing "cabinets of curiosities"- collections of beautiful and unusual objects that in many cases became the seeds of the world's great natural history museums. Cabinet of Curiosities is exactly the book for every young explorer who loves finding stuff in nature and bringing it home. Created with the inspired bookmaking that made Chip Kidd's Go the must-have book about graphic design, Cabinet of Curiosities? is a lavish, oversize, illustrated, and chockful introduction to the wonders of natural history and the joys of being an amateur scientist and collector. Nature writer Gordon Grice, who started his first cabinet of curiosities at age six when he found a skunk's skull, explains how scientists classify all living things through the Linnaeus system; how to tell real gold from fool's gold; how to preserve butterflies, crab shells, feathers, a robin's egg, spider specimens, honeycombs-and a skunk's skull (and other skulls and bones); how to identify seashells; the difference between antlers and home; what a thunder egg is and where to find it; the metamorphosis of cicadas; what a porcupine quill is made of; what to do with a shark's tooth; how to read animal tracks. And then, what to do with your specimens, including how to build a cabinet of curiosities out of common household objects, like a desk organizer or a box for fishing tackle.

About this title

Review:

"...elegantly designed book, with its surfeit of spectacular images." -New York Times Book Review

"Perfect for amateur scientists and avid collectors..." -Boys Life

"This is a beautifully illustrated book that will undoubtedly spark the curiosity in any kid who reads it." -Boing Boing

About the Author:

Gordon Grice is a nature writer and author of The Red Hourglass: Lives of the Predators and Deadly Kingdom: The Book of Dangerous Animals. His articles about wildlife and biology have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, and Discover. He lives in Wisconsin and online at gordongrice.com.

About this edition

• Publisher: Workman
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 076116927X
• ISBN 13: 9780761169277
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 160