LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 41 First, for the younger readers: Why Should I Climb This Tree?, by Ryan Hogan (Troy Book Mak- ers, 2022), is aimed at beginning readers, but older readers will gain much from it as well. A father teaches his young son tree-climb- ing. In a dreamlike state, the boy meets mystical creatures like a skabbit – half skunk, half rabbit – and learns how to overcome obsta- cles. Illustrator Susanna Braymer fancifully conveys the complexity and liveliness of nature as the seasons change. The book "could be the antidote for [kids'] excessive use of digital screens and social media," the author notes. Linda Lou Steiner combines fun and learning in Eastern Wildlife Coloring Book (self-published, 2023). Featured are thirty animals, many native to the Adirondacks. They're not just the charismatic ones – there's the black bear and brook trout, of course, but also the red-spotted newt and garter snake, equally important to their ecosys- tem. Each "color me" drawing is accompanied by short paragraphs on topics such as habitat, diet, col- oring, and the species' niche in the larger web of nature. Adirondack resident and chil- dren's book author/illustrator Maxwell Eaton III is the creator of Survival Scout: Lost In the Moun- tains (Roaring Brook Press, 2023). The first in a projected series, the graphic novel portrays how Scout manages when she gets lost in the woods. Will she work her way out of her predicament using resource- fulness, remaining calm, and know- ing what steps to take? This story educates while entertains. To learn how photography made the Adirondacks what they are today: The profusely illustrated Seneca Ray Stoddard: An Intimate Por- trait of an Adirondack Legend, by Stoddard's descendant and retired Hudson Headwaters physician Dr. Daniel Way (Warren County Histor- ical Society, 2022), conveys the key role Stoddard, a pioneering conser- vation-minded landscape photog- rapher, played in the creation of the Adirondack Forest Preserve in 1885 and encompassing state park in 1892. But Stoddard (1844-1917) was more than just a picture-taker. Dr. Way shows us that his ancestor was a cartographer, inventor, sailor, lecturer, humorist, poet, publisher, businessman, artist, author, explor- er, surveyor, and "environmentalist before the word was recognized." Whew! Broadening both the field and the time span, Adirondack Photogra- phers, 1850 -1950, by Sally Svenson (Syracuse University Press, 2023) presents a round-up of many who earned their living taking pictures across a century of change. We see how they started with portraiture, then sold postcards and prints of scenic vistas as the tourist trade grew. Most recorded community life — "house, horse, or baby," said one ad. Others documented industries and pastimes, produc- ing important historical records of mines, mills, town ball teams, and more. It's all in this comprehensive volume. Maybe you need to do some last-minute holiday shopping and someone on your list likes to read. Or perhaps you're looking for some winter's night fireside reading for yourself. Whatever your reason for book season, there are plenty of books about, set in, or applicable to the Adirondacks which have come out in the past several month. Many can be found in local bookstores (shop local whenever possible) or online.

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