Babies of all species hold a nearly universal appeal, whether our own tiny, bright-eyed bundles of joy, tiny kittens or even sweet young porcupettes. However, you won’t find juvenile porcupines at the local petting zoo, and in fact it would be a fortuitous sighting indeed to come across one in the wild. Although our family lives in a very rural area we only spot adult porcupines from time to time. I hate to admit it, but I only recently realized that they are prodigious tree-climbers after spotting one aloft as we drove home from town. That’s what’s fascinating about the Nature Babies series, young readers are transported into the daily lives of young animals that are rarely seen on nature walks. They also learn at a much younger age than I did that porcupines spend much of their time in trees.

Created by husband-and-wife team Aubrey Lang and Wayne Lynch, the couple heads out into wilderness areas to snap photos and share the hidden world of infant wildlife with young readers. Written with children ages from two through seven, the straightforward text, which is written by Lang, accompanies vivid, true-life photographs of animals in their natural setting, taken by Lynch.

In Baby Porcupine the couple follows a three-week-old female porcupettes through her daily rounds in a forest in Minnesota. The book opens with a charming note to young readers that briefly explains the process by which the couple was able to photograph the adorable little critter. Understanding the couple’s endurance of mosquitoes they could not swat away for fear of scaring the baby porcupine adds a sense of realism to the work.

The vivid, well-lit photographs so clearly capture the essentials of porcupine life, my husband initially thought they were carefully arranged with a porcupette model. Indeed, the shots showing the little one climbing a tree, eating raspberry leaves, exploring a cave, and interacting with her mother are only a few that crisply portray the fabric of the porcupette’s life. Some of the wildlife that lives alongside the porcupine family are also included through photographs and are woven into the story. A ruffed grouse, raccoon, mouse and owl make appearances, but none is so exciting as the attack of a fisher on the porcupette.

A “Did You Know” section in the back of the book provides additional facts, and an index allows for topical searches. Nursing for example is woven into the story on pages 18 and 28. This integration of facts into the living story of the porcupette’s life is much more palatable, and indeed, digestible, for young readers. This natural presentation of information creates much better retention and a sense of personal involvement in the life of the animal.

My children’s interest was so piqued and drawn into the woodland life of the porcupette that they were reluctant to emerge from it again. Indeed, their only complaint was that we were left wanting more when the book came to a close. Not only is the Nature Babies series an excellent starting point for young naturalists, it’s also incredibly adorable and engaging with its emphasis on young animals. Parents and educators seeking to foster an interest in and love for wildlife in young children should certainly invest in the series.

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