Ricky's Atlas: Mapping a Land on Fire

by Judith L. Li, M. L. Herring

In this sequel to Ellie’s Log: Exploring the Forest Where the Great Tree Fell, Ricky Zamora brings his love of map-making and his boundless curiosity to the arid landscapes east of the Cascades Mountains.  He arrives during a wild thunderstorm, and watches his family and their neighbors scramble to deal with a wildfire sparked by lightning. Joined by his friend Ellie, he sees how plants, animals, and people adjust to life with wildfires. 
 
While hiking across a natural prairie, climbing up a fire tower, and studying historical photos and maps, Ricky and Ellie learn about the role of fire in shaping the landscape of the semi-arid plateau east of the mountains. They experience the scary days of wildfire in progress, explore a gritty site after a wildfire, and discover how some plants and animals depend on fire to survive.
 
Color pen-and-ink drawings accompany the text and vividly illustrate plants, animals, and events encountered in this exciting summer adventure. With his friend Ellie, Ricky creates a brightly colored diary of the fire, with maps, timelines, and sketches of what they see in this fire-prone land.  Ricky’s notebook about his summer visit to his uncle’s ranch becomes an atlas of fire ecology, weather patterns, and life in the rain shadow.
 
Upper elementary kids will enjoy the mixture of amazing adventures with actual historical, physical, and ecological data about the region.  Woven into the story are the small pleasures of ranch life, intriguing histories of Native Americans and early settlers, and almost unbelievable views of ancient fossils.  Ricky and Ellie’s explorations, accompanied by their hand-written notes, introduce readers to a very special landscape and history east of the mountains.

Genres: Childrens, Nature

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 15, 2016

Reviews

[Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't a book I normally would have picked up but I someone had recommended the first book in the series- Ellie's Log- because it was an Oregon based author with the story taking place in the Pacific Northwest. It's a fun way to introduce readers into nature journaling. In this instance, a forest fire has Ricky and his family and friends on high alert. And they help keep track of the before-and-after of this event.

[Cindy Hudson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ricky Zamora loves the high desert area where his aunt, uncle, and cousins live. The terrain is much drier than the town west of the Cascade Mountains where he lives. But he arrives for a visit during a thunderstorm, and he gets to see how rain can bring both life-giving water and danger when a forest fire breaks out. As his uncle and cousin help neighbors and support the firefighters, Ricky learns a lot about how plants and animals adapt to fire-prone environments.

Ricky’s Atlas by Judith L. Li is a companion book to Ellie’s Log, which explored a wet forest ecology. In this book, Ricky’s friend Ellie gets involved too, helping Ricky and his cousins map the recovery of plants and animals in an area burned by a previous fire. The fictionalized story helps kids learn about all kinds of real-life facts, such as how to measure distance from lightning and thunder, why some trees need fire to spread their seeds, and what the lines on a topography map mean.

Some of M. L Herring’s illustrations are journal-style, and they could inspire kids to make their own observations. Others showcase sidebar-type facts that go with the story. With its combination of fiction and nonfiction, Ricky’s Atlas has appeal to readers aged 9 to 12 who love either or both genres.

The publisher provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.