This Week June 20, 1990: Page M19°

LITERATURE

» his year’s crop of guidebooks
, designed to enhance outdoor fun

ver notice that enjoy-

ing the great out-

doors is one of those

things that just seem
to come, well, naturally? Those
open-air experiences can be
even better with access to ex-
pert information and the best
way to get that is by hiring a
guide -- but guidebooks are a
lot cheaper.

So with that cost-effective
thought in mind, let’s have a look
at ten new guidebook titles

designed for outdoor family fun
while fishing, camping, hiking,
bird-watching or playing Jacques
Cousteau.

According to Curt Downs, editor
at Heritage House Publishing,
some 400,000 fishermen stalk the
wily West Coast salmon in B.C.
waters each year but 80-85% of
the fish are caught by only 15-20%

of anglers. His suggestion to even
the odds? Buy a copy of Salmon
Fishing British Columbia -
Volume Two (141 pp.; $11.95).

Salmon Fishing . . ., written by
retired Vancouver Province Out-
door Editor, Mike Cramond, iden-
tifies nearly 100 top fishing spots
around Vancouver, the lower

Strait of Georgia, the Sechelt and
up as far as Texada Island and
Jervis Island. While components
such as maps, baits, methods and
locations are to be expected, the
addition of safety tips and marine
biological information is a nice
touch.

And since we're on the topic of
things finny, it should be noted
that B.C’s Mr. Salmonid himself
has released a new edition of his
popular Charlie White’s 101 Fish-
ing Secrets (Heritage; 145 pp.). Ar-
cane angling advice includes: why

By MIKE STEELE

storing fish in plastic bags is a
no-no; which reels give more con-
trol; which weights are best; how
to fish tide lines - and why; and
loads of other details to make
those fishing stories more con-
vincing.

One of my favorite chapters in
Camping With Kids (Brighouse
Press; 156 pp.; $12.95) was the
one that described 1,001 rope
knots for securing reluctant
junior campers to large trees in
remote sections of provincial
parks - in other provinces, of
course.

Seriously though, Rosemary
Rawnsley and Jacquie Stinson
had a great idea with this book,
Camping With Kids offers travel
ints, cures for low boredom
thresholds, menu suggestions and
much more. And it’s probably just
a coincidence that Rawnsley
works for the B.C. and Yukon
Heart and Stroke Association.

Expanded and revised editions
of Easy Hiking Around Vancowver
(145 pp.; $12.95) and 109 Walks In
British Columbia’s Lower Main-
land (238 pp.; $14.95) are now
available from Douglas & Mc-
Intyre.

Both Jean Cousines’ and
Heather Robinson’s Easy Hiking
(an all-season guide with 46
hikes, including 24 new ones) and
Mary and David Macaree’s 109
Walks describe hikes that, in
general, aren’t particularly
demanding but offer access to
some spectacular scenery and pic-
nic sites. More adventurous trail-
hounds would be better advised to
try the Macarees’ other title, 103
Hikes (not a new edition), also
from D & M.

Birding enthusiasts have three
new guidebooks winging their
way to local bookstores, two in the
Peterson Field Guide series and
one from Western Producer
Prairie Books.

The former are Roger Tory
Peterson’s third edition of Western
Birds (432 pp.; $32.95 hardcover,
$19.95 paperback) and Advanced
Birding (299 pp.; $32.95
hardcover, $21.95 paperback).
Both are Houghton Mifflin titles
distributed in Canada by Thomas
Allen & Son.

The liner notes of Western Birds
claim that this should be regarded
as a totally new book; a quick com-
parison with my own copy of the
previous edition proves this out.
Features include paintings of over
1,000 birds (165 color plates) and
441 definitive maps.

Kaufer’s Advanced Birding is
really a postgraduate text oniden-
tification problems with certain
avian species and advice on how

to overcome these difficult and
sometimes frustrating challen-

ges. It’s the kind of book that only

the most dedicated of birders
would need and appreciate fully.

Birds of the Canadian Rockies
(Western Producer;; 170 pp.,
$92.95) is a beautifully illustrated
(over 230 color photographs)
guide compiled by an impressive
trio: Tom Ulrich (winner of the
1987 Wildlife Photographer of the
Year Award), George Scotter (con-
tributor to more than 1380 scien-
tific journals and magazines) and
wildlife film producer Edgar
Jones. This is an excellent intro-
ductory guide that deliberately
avoids much of the jargon and ter-
minology that sometimes make
other birding books a trifle in-
timidating to the novice.

It’s interesting to note the pub-
lication of two books this season
with saltwater naturalists in
mind.

William Fox’s At The Sea’s Edge
- An Introduction To Coastal
Oceanography For The Amateur
Naturalist (Prentice-Hall; 317
pp., $18.95) takes a textbook ap-
proach to waves and their interac-
tion with shorelines. At The Sea’s
Edge has a much narrower focus
than its title and subtitle might
imply and could mislead readers
into thinking that this is a tidal
pool tour guide. It’s not.

The Seaside Naturalist (Pren-
tice-Hall; 246 pp., $18.95), on the
other hand, may suffer from at-
tempting too broad a survey.

Author Deborah Coulombe has
written a very generalized,
beginner’s level book that will
answer many questions family
members could pose without real-
ly satisfying all the requirements
of readers. I'd pass on this one.

TILLICUM MALL

Lower Level

389-1191