Non-Fiction: Nature Out of Balance

Author Illustrator Publisher
 
 
Merrie-Ellen Wilcox   Orca

English Ivy, Himalayan blackberries, and Zebra mussels are all invasive species in Canada that threaten native plants and eco-systems. 

Non-native plants and animals have travelled by wind, sea and land as accidental tourists. Some have been brought intentionally to North America. Once here many invasives flourish and created massive problems for the local fauna by competing for land and food. In Wilcox’s words – they “become a bully”! This book highlights many plant and animal “invasive all-stars” and highlights their effect on the environment. On the upside we learn about ecologists and citizen scientists (like you) who are helping study, control and repair eco-systems across North America. 

Questions:

  • Name five invasive species that are threatening Canadian eco-systems. 
  • Can you describe one invasive species that was brought in to solve a problem and then became a bigger problem? 
  • Which is the most invasive species of all? 
  • What does “ecological restoration” mean? 
  • How can YOU help control invasive species? 

Reviews:

SD20 Webster Elementary Red Cedar Readers

I found Nature Out of Balance to be ok. It is a book about invasive species, what they are, how they got there and how to stop their spread. The main reason I didn’t like this book was because I like to learn about invasive species and this book didn’t live up to my expectations. I like to learn about invasive animals instead of plants and I found this book plant heavy. I also thought it was a bit drab and boring. Other than that it wasn’t too bad of a book. I rated this book a 2 out of 5 and would recommend this book to people Grade 5 and up who like animals and learning about invasive species.

This book was a pretty good book that I enjoyed to the fullest. It explains different time periods where invasive species were a problem and explains why they were a problem. Altogether this was just a really good book and I think that I will recommend this book to people that like nature and to learn more about it and what we did to make it the way it is and how we can fix it.

I thought this book was really interesting. It was very informative about endangered species and had lots of knowledge about plants and wildlife. This book also told me the materials needed for certain outside activities. I would rate this book a ⅘.

This book is pretty good. It tells you a lot about invasive species. It also has lots of fun facts and pictures. I would recommend this book for those of you that are nature lovers and want to help the earth.

I really enjoyed the book Nature Out of Balance, I really enjoyed all the beautiful pictures they put in this book. I would recommend this book to anyone that likes being outside or learning about all different kinds of animals. Overall, this book gets a ⅗.

This was a good book. To put it in simplest words this book is about nature being out of balance. It has lots of definitions for words in the book.   

This book has lots of maps, pictures and facts. It’s very informative, inspiring and it’s great if you want to know more about nature. I rate this book a ⅗.

The book Nature out of Balance is a well organized book about Earth’s invasive species. I do not personally like information books and would rather read fantasy. But if you like to read information books, then this is the book for you! I would not recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Harry Potter or The Land Of Stories or any other books like that. But I would recommend it to people between the ages of ten and twelve who prefer to read informational books.