Nature Study Buddies, is book 3 of Leigh’s Wheelie Adventures by Charlene McIver and Claudia Gadotti. In this educational book readers follow three young children who have been tasked with an assignment from school to study animals of their choosing. Tara, Cosmo, and Leigh decide nocturnal animals would be fun and know just where to find them. In Leigh’s backyard in his gum tree, because he see’s glowing eyes in the tree at night sometimes. There is only one catch, how will Leigh, who is wheelchair bound, get up into the tree to study these nocturnal animals?

I absolutely love the idea of children who are fascinated by animals and learning all they can about them. It connects them to the world around them and feeds their curiosity. Sometimes we think disabled people are not able to fully enjoy things abled bodied people could do, and I enjoyed that this book invited that thought in and shattered it quickly. We must do things differently sometimes to have the same desired results if one is disabled, and when Leigh stayed put on the ground, staying quiet in the night, he was able to see all the beautiful nocturnal animals he was worried he would miss out on.

Nature Study Buddies is an inspirational story showing friends coming together and working on something they love. The illustrations gave life to the story and brought out the rustic look of the wild animals at night. This will be an uplifting book to read to young children at bedtime, and will be perfect for any teacher that wants to educate their students on nature, accepting others, and building friendships.

Pages: 36 | ASIN: 0645483109