At Home with the Gopher Tortoise: The Story of a Keystone Species (The Story of a Keystone Species, 1)

Not just for children. I am in my 70s and I loved it.

This book has some of the most beautiful illustrations to accompany informative text about the surprising ways that the gopher tortoise interacts with its environment. I have friends in Georgia and in the South and they loved getting this book as a gift because gopher tortoises are so important to their ecosystems.

This book is chock full of interesting facts, solid science and gorgeous illustrations. I am ordering another copy!

Visited southwest Florida and was enchanted by the big, gawky land tortoises. This is a great book for all ages to learn more about the tortoise and all the creatures that depend on their long cool tunnels. Great pictures.

My five-and-a-half year old daughter and I were fascinated at the wonderful world of the gopher tortoise, which is covered in this educational book by Madeleine Dunphy. The gopher tortoise's habitat is in the longleaf pine and scrub oak forests of the Southeastern United States. What makes this particular type of tortoise unique is that its' burrows provide shelter/hunting grounds/nesting spots for more than 360 different kinds of animals!Until we read this book, I had no idea what a keystone species was, but this book defined the term clearly for us, i.e. that a keystone species is one upon which other animals depend on for survival. We learned that skunks use the burrows dug by the gopher tortoise for shelter and hunting; the Florida mouse uses the burrows for nesting and storing food; burrowing owls use them for incubating and sheltering their eggs; and many other species of animals use the burrows for various purposes.I can see this book being used in the elementary classroom for teaching science. The vivid, full color illustrations nicely complement the fact-based text. The text is well-written, reading more like a narrative than tedious, factual prose, and the language used is appropriate for young readers, i.e. K-upper elementary. Judging by my own young child's reaction to the book, I feel many young readers will be captivated by the vivid and detailed illustrations by Michael Rothman. This is a wonderful, educational resource for school and home libraries.