Hands-On Activities

Birdie and her family are trying to build a farm in Florida. But it’s not easy with the heat, droughts, and cold snaps—and neighbors that don’t believe in fences. But Birdie won’t give up on her dream of strawberries, and her family won’t let those Slaters drive them from their home! This Newberry Medal–winning novel presents a realistic picture of life on the Florida frontier. 

Toby Morgan was sixteen when his doctor father moved the family from New Jersey to Fort Dallas---now known as Miami---just after the Civil War. Florida then was an unexplored tropical wilderness that would have delighted the heart of an active boy---and Toby was no exception. Hunting, fishing, and cruising in his canoe through the watery channels of the Everglades, Toby soon came to know the birds and animals that abound there, as well as the ruthless plume hunters. He also discovered a forgotten tribe of Indians deep in the swampland. One day, in a dangerous encounter with an alligator, Toby's life was saved by Miki-loko, son of the Caloosa chief, and they became close friends. Later, when Professor Evans, a naturalist, arrived to photograph Florida wild life, Toby was well qualified to act as guide for him and his tomboy daughter, Sue. Through a swift and unexpected turn of events, the story builds to an exciting climax, and in the end Toby is launched on a fascinating scientific career. As a writer of thrilling adventure tales for teenagers, Stephen Meader has few equals, and in this book he has not only told a story of action and suspense, but has caught the vivid color of a picturesque era with authenticity and rare skill.

From acclaimed children’s book biographer Sandra Neil Wallace comes the inspiring and little-known story of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the remarkable journalist who saved the Florida Everglades from development and ruin. Marjory Stoneman Douglas didn’t intend to write about the Everglades but when she returned to Florida from World War I, she hardly recognized the place that was her home. The Florida that Marjory knew was rapidly disappearing—the rare orchids, magnificent birds, and massive trees disappearing with it. Marjory couldn’t sit back and watch her home be destroyed—she had to do something. Thanks to Marjory, a part of the Everglades became a national park and the first park not created for sightseeing, but for the benefit of animals and plants. Without Marjory, the part of her home that she loved so much would have been destroyed instead of the protected wildlife reserve it has become today.

Charming Children's story of a little Seminole Indian boy and his family life in the Florida Everglades with Color illustrations throughout by Richard Floethe.

Describes an alligator's desperate search for food in the Florida Everglades during the month of October.

From Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay, from inside the bone-crushing jaws of an alligator to the storms that race across the blackwater backcountry, award-winning conservation photographer Mac Stone takes us on a visual journey through the Everglades. More than 200 striking photographs showcase the natural beauty of this unique wetland, capturing the amazing depths of its landscapes, the diversity of its wildlife, and the resilience of the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States.Aerial views highlight the vast expanse of the River of Grass. Underwater images capture the endless wonders of the Everglades, including sharks darting through mangrove roots. Intimate close-ups showcase awe-inspiring flora and fauna such as the ghost orchid, the Florida panther, the endangered Everglades snail kite, roseate spoonbills, and, of course, the majestic American alligator.

Billie Wind lives with her Seminole tribe. She follows their customs, but the dangers of pollution and nuclear war she's learned about in school seem much more real to her. How can she believe the
Seminole legends about talking animals and earth spirits? She wants answers, not legends.

"You are a doubter,"say the men of the Seminole Council and so Billie goes out into the Everglades alone, to stay until she can believe. In the wilderness, she discovers that she must listen to the land and animals in order to survive. With an otter, a panther cub, and a turtle as companions and guides, she begins to understand that the world of her people can give her the answers she seeks.

Add these fun animals to any hands-on activities to learn about the wetlands.

See the world in a whole new way! Acclaimed illustrator Julia Rothman combines art and science in this exciting and educational guide to the structure, function, and personality of the natural world. Explore the anatomy of a jellyfish, the inside of a volcano, monarch butterfly migration, how sunsets work, and much more. Rothman’s whimsical illustrations are paired with interactive activities that encourage curiosity and inspire you to look more closely at the world all around you.

In this best-selling novel, Patrick Smith tells the story of three generations of the MacIveys, a Florida family who battle the hardships of the frontier to rise from a dirt-poor Cracker life to the wealth and standing of real estate tycoons. The story opens in 1858, when Tobias MacIvey arrives in the Florida wilderness to start a new life with his wife and infant son, and ends two generations later in 1968 with Solomon MacIvey, who realizes that the land has been exploited far beyond human need. The sweeping story that emerges is a rich, rugged Florida history featuring a memorable cast of crusty, indomitable Crackers battling wild animals, rustlers, Confederate deserters, mosquitoes, starvation, hurricanes, and freezes to carve a kingdom out of the swamp. But their most formidable adversary turns out to be greed, including finally their own. Love and tenderness are here too: the hopes and passions of each new generation, friendships with the persecuted blacks and Indians, and respect for the land and its wildlife.

In wildcat country, deep in the Florida water prairie wilderness, a great bobcat reigned supreme. He was called the Tiger by farmers and hunters of the region, some of whom feared or hated him. Only the boy Sammy, who roamed the woods finding all the teeming wildlife thrilling, cared enough to befriend the fierce king of the Wahoo. The boy and the cat established a strange friendship that endured through seasons of drought, forest fire and flood, and through the resolute hunting of the Tiger by his enemies - men and dogs.

Before 1947, when Marjory Stoneman Douglas named The Everglades a "river of grass," most people considered the area worthless. She brought the world's attention to the need to preserve The Everglades. In the Afterword, Michael Grunwald tells us what has happened to them since then. Grunwald points out that in 1947 the government was in the midst of establishing the Everglades National Park and turning loose the Army Corps of Engineers to control floods--both of which seemed like saviors for the Glades. But neither turned out to be the answer. Working from the research he did for his book, The Swamp, Grunwald offers an account of what went wrong and the many attempts to fix it, beginning with Save Our Everglades, which Douglas declared was "not nearly enough." Grunwald then lays out the intricacies (and inanities) of the more recent and ongoing CERP, the hugely expensive Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.