“Our Great Big Backyard”

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the National Parks Service.  To promote interest and an appreciation of all our parks offer, Laura Bush and her daughter, Jenna Bush Hager, have co-authored “Our Great Big Backyard.”

This is a fictional story of a mom and dad who have summer plans for their children that do not involve watching movies, and playing with their electronic toys.  Mom and dad have decided that they and their two children will be taking a road trip visiting various national parks.

While the story is fairly easy to predict–the children are opposed to the idea and, at first, are very bored–the illustrations do a great job picturing what our national parks can offer visitors. The reader learns about the swamps and cypress trees of the Everglades Nation Park, the vast open spaces of Texas, the Skywalk of the Grand Canyon National Park, and, of course, Old Faithful at Yellowstone.

For families planning a road trip this summer that will include a national park, this is a great introductory book.  For readers who just want to learn more about the scenic wonders of the U.S., “Our Great Big Backyard” is worth reading.

The book includes a map of the U.S., a state-by-state listing of all the national parks in the U.S., plus two websites that offer additional information.