GO WILD IN NEW YORK CITY!

Young folk, urbanites or otherwise, who think that the Big City’s all concrete and honking horns will think differently after this breezy, exuberantly illustrated tour squired by Skippy, an Eastern Gray Squirrel with a taste for bagels. Readers will not only get ganders at dozens of New York sights and neighborhoods, but at water tunnels deep below ground, the city’s geological formations and history, its weather, gardens, common flora, insect life (in a chapter appropriately titled “Rulers of New York”), wildlife from snakes to birds and finally the food-to-garbage cycle. Along with plenty of urging to plant a mini-garden, start a worm box, conserve natural resources, get outdoors and like interactions with the environment, Matsen sprinkles his travelogue liberally with memorable factlets—yes, an alligator was once found in a storm drain—and child-friendly Web sites. The artful mix of small, clear, sometimes riveting photos, some amusingly manipulated, with cartoons, cutaway views, maps and simple diagrams adds plenty of color and visual detail. Capped by a terrific resource list, this is going to be opening eyes and minds far beyond the borders of the Big Apple. (Nonfiction. 9-11)