After a huge tree crashes to the ground during a winter storm, ten-year-old Ellie and her new friend, Ricky, explore the forest where Ellie lives. Together, they learn how trees provide habitat for plants and animals high in the forest canopy, down among mossy old logs, and deep in the pools of a stream. The plants, insects, birds, and mammals they discover come to life in colored pen-and-ink drawings.

An engaging blend of science and storytelling, Ellie’s Log also features:

• Pages from Ellie’s own field notebook, which provide a model for recording observations in nature

• Ellie’s advice to readers for keeping a field notebook

• Ellie’s book recommendations Online resources for readers and teachers—including a Teacher’s Guide—are available at ellieslog.org.

Judith L. Li, a retired Associate Professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Oregon State University, is a stream ecologist. She participates in National Science Foundation-sponsored Long Term Ecological Research at the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest and works with K-12 science teachers. She edited To Harvest, To Hunt: Stories of Resource Use in the American West and coedited Wading for Bugs: Exploring Streams with the Experts.

M.L. Herring is a science writer and illustrator who works with researchers around the world to describe their discoveries within the natural world. She currently heads the communications department within Oregon State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences..