Once again, Houghton Mifflin’s “Scientists in the Field” Series scores high marks for an excellent “up-close-and-personal” approach to the career of a contemporary scientist. Susan Morse is a forester and habitat ecologist in northern Vermont whose love of forests and the animals who live in them was first encouraged by her grandfather. Continuing her family’s tradition of studying the woods, she works to educate others about the forest environment. As founder of Keeping Track, a nonprofit conservation organization for adults and children, she strives to encourage community participation in wildlife habitat preservation. The majority of this highly visual nonfiction book focuses on the animal species Morse has studied, including bear, moose, and bobcats, and stresses the importance of preserving the habitat necessary to their continued survival. Numerous clear color photographs, taken by Morse, accompany the engaging and accessible text. (Ages 7–11)

Sue Morse is at home in the woods; she has read the woods ever since she could remember. She believes that by reading the forests she can help save them. So outside the door of her small cabin lies her laboratory: the rich and extensive forest and all of the creatures who live there. Revealing just how active and engaging scienceand scientistscan be, this book also gives us a closer glimpse into the vulnerable homes of bear, lynx, deer, bobcat, and all the dwellers of the woods."