DISCLAIMER:  This site contains product affiliate links. I may receive a small commission if you click on or make a purchase after clicking on one of these links. Tilbury House Publishers reached out to me to review some of their exciting new STEAM titles released this past month (August 2024). In this post, I am reviewing Chasing Guano – The Discovery of a Penguin Colony by Helen Taylor. As always, all opinions are my own.

I am so pleased Tilbury House Publishers contacted me to review another exciting new STEAM based title for kids. It is from their How Nature Works series and it’s about penguins!. The book is titled Chasing Guano – The Discovery of a Penguin Colony by Helen Taylor.

How Nature Works – Chasing Guano Book Review:

Do you have a child who loves to learn about birds and penguins? Perhaps they want to be a future ornithologists or a zoologist? Chasing Guano – The Discovery of a Penguin Colony by Helen Taylor is the perfect book for them! It’s cute, the side bars are informative, and the illustrations are crisp.

Antartica and its sub antarctic islands are home to several species of penguins. The world’s largest populations of Adélie penguins live off the tip of Antartica in the Danger Islands. This penguin colony was found using satellite imagery of their guano – or poop. This book led us through a research expedition to study them by chasing their guano.

Learning about the expedition was exciting. We discovered how connected the colonies’ health is to the overall health of the Antarctic ecosystem. We also learned about the importance of Marine Protected Area’s (MPA’s). Our children also found it fascinating to learn how they can help with the research efforts. We loved the full spread illustrations with real photos from the expedition.

This is the second of the “How Nature Works” books from Tilbury House Publishers we’ve read and we can’t wait to check out more – read about our review of the ‘Tiny Titans’ here!

Key Elements We Loved:

Some of the key elements of the book that we loved were:

• its sturdy hardback cover,
• we loved the “How Nature Works” boxes on each page. They provided more detailed information for our curious children that wanted to understand more,
• the scientific vocabulary used in the book (guano, ecosystem, colony, peninsula, ocean circulation, currents, MPA, citizen scientist) and the curiosity they sparked, and
• the stunning expedition photography and helpful diagrams.

About the Author:

Helen Taylor is a children’s author who loves science and sharing stories that inspire children!

Would you recommend Chasing Guano?

I would recommend this book for children 8-12 years old that love to learn about animals (especially penguins), their ecosystems, and environmental changes. This is the second book in the “How Nature Works” series that we’ve enjoyed from Tilbury House Publishers!

Are you looking for more great STEAM books? Check out all my recommended books here!

-Kristen