Daniel P. Brandt

Daniel P. Brandt grew up on a lake in Minnesota, spending his days in the woods exploring with his brother and his mom. That childhood, equal parts curiosity and dirt, is the heart of the Nature Journals he creates with his mother, artist and author DeAnna Ortiz Brandt.

Together they make guided journals that hand the pencil to the kid. In Bug Log Kids and Rock Log Kids, simple, friendly prompts invite young explorers to look closer, ask questions, and record what they find, then draw it, color it, and make it their own. Daniel shapes both the words and the design, building pages that feel less like homework and more like a field notebook a kid actually wants to fill.

Having spent summers leading children's park programs, he writes for the explorer in every kid, the one who's happiest outside with a logbook in hand.