This book is really interesting and well put together. Loved it so much I ended up purchasing a physical copy for our home, and so that my son could read it.

This is a fun book for kids that's likely to get them excited about exploring outside. I particularly liked the information about buying and using a knife. There's a lot of good and interesting information but some parents may take issue with some of it. The wild edible foods mentioned are barely sketched and then described fairly well, but you probably don't want your child eating something only from a tiny black and white sketch and a description, even if there aren't poisonous look-alikes for the plant. He mentions eating cattail shoots raw and many foraging books do also, but cattails can have parasites from the water they're grown in and we always cook them (at which point they are quite tasty if prepared properly, which he doesn't really go into fully). I was bothered by the section on eating bugs because for grasshoppers he recommends catching them with a net, pulling their legs and wings off and then cooking them. That just sounds cruel, pulling off their legs and wings and roasting them alive. My kids love nature, but they also have empathy towards the other creatures who inhabit it. In general, though, this book does have a lot of fun ideas and information that middle school kids are likely to really like.

My rating system:
1 = hated it
2 = it was okay
3 = liked it
4 = really liked it
5 = love it, plan to purchase, and/or would buy it again if it was lost

I read a temporary digital ARC of the book for the purpose of review.

Amazingly fun and entertaining book of the ourdoors and doing stuff in it for kids! I wish I were still a kid living near a woods,. Or even having kids and a woods to buy this for! Barring that, I am suggesting this book be purchased for our library as I think it is a wonderful book that kids will love. It would be wonderful if every child who lived near a wilderness area could own this book to learn outdoor skills. Wonderful book. Great illustrations. Loads of useful information.

This is a must have book! The Young Adventurer's Guide to (Almost) Everything by Ben Hewitt is useful when camping and other outdoor activities too. You can "Build a Fort, Camp Like a Champ, …. 45 Action-Packed Outdoor Activities" are included to enjoy with great illustrations and all the easy steps included. You will know exactly what you need to do these activities. This book is best for adventurers ages 8 to 12. Some of the great items inside also include sleeping in the woods without freezing, carefully using a knife, finding your way home without a GPS and eating bugs without throwing up. Sounds great -- right? It is -- well done and interesting!

This will be a great book for middle school kids enameled with the outdoors and nature. It offers great practical advice in an easy to read format. From knife skills and identifying plants to how to escape a bear and how to poop in the woods! I’d suggest that parents flip through it before letting younger readers loose in the pages.

This is a very well-done outdoors book! I have a ten year old son and he really loves nature. This book covers a lot of things my husband and I have talked about with him. I love the knife safety and the practical advice on what to do when you have a cut from a knife. I love the information on many outdoors things in this book. I don’t care for the Native American spiritual stories (it’s not all over) or the symbol cussing (at least it tells you not to cuss. I would not turn my son loose on this book but would go through it with him. I would imagine most people wouldn’t be quite as persnickety about things as me and all things considered the few points of contention I have with the book are probably non-issues for most people.
The book is written like the reader is being directly addressed and in a trendy manner.

I like any book that has "how to poop in the woods" on the cover! This is a great book for any curious kid or adult who needs a quick reference book on how to ID plants, escape from bears....and poop in the woods! I love that the book has fun language, design, and illustrations while offering practical and manageable advice.

"Paul!," yelled my dad. "Where's my Backpacker's Guide!?!?!?"

Uh oh! I'm gonna get it! I was probably up the hill again trying to make a lean-to out of a tarp. He told me not to cut that cord... I'm in trouble!

I ate this type of book up when I was a kid. I had field guides to native plants and a Cub Scout Handbook and a subscription to Outside magazine. And The Young Adventurer's Guide to (Almost) Anything follows directly in this vein. It is a book that speaks directly to young people between the ages of about 10-14. It covers a multitude of situations and problems, such as how to choose a knife, how to make rope, and how to cook bread on a stick. 

I found the writing informative and on a level that broke the steps down well for a younger reader. It's also quite witty with jokes that aren't corny but will work well with a middle grade audience. I have two major criticisms with this book: the organization and the illustrations. I was unsure about the reasoning behind how the sections were put together. Instead of by theme, it might have been better to organize simply by activity, like food or shelter, etc. And the illustrations could have been a bit more clear and I think every section needed a picture to help this age group see how the task is done. 

Despite some flaws, this outdoor guide has some good to offer for a middle age adventurer. 

3 out of 5 starts.

Thank you to NetGalley, Roost Books, and Ben Hewitt for an advanced copy for review.

The Young Adventurer's Guide to (Almost) Anything: Build a Fort, Camp Like a Champ, Poop in the Woods-45 Action-Packed Outdoor Activities can be purchased here from Amazon.

This book is perfect for the camper in me. As a kid I was always fascinated with nature survival and this was a book I wish I had growing up! All the advice is super useful, easy to follow the steps, and often, with a humorous element-I mean, you can’t discuss pooping in the woods without making a joke. I think next time I camp I will be even more prepared with setting up my site, starting a fire, and having a list of camping essentials. The illustrations and graphic layout of this book are very appealing as well.

I really loved the introduction in this book, as it gave a very clear description of cultural appropriation and how it is very common in outdoor books. It was a welcome intro, and something I try to discuss with my students as a sort of warning in many outdoor and survival-type books I keep in my library. It was really refreshing to have that already covered in such a concise and clear way. Covering basic topics such as knife skills, what to do if you encounter a bear, building a shelter, and sleeping in the woods, it will really resonate with upper elementary students who enjoy the outdoors, and might just encourage those who don't spend enough time outdoors to get outside.
While not a heavy duty "how to" book, the almost comic book style will entice reluctant readers to dig in. I will definitely be recommending this book for my outdoor hiking club, and will be getting a copy for my 10 year old daughter, as well.

After reading the introduction, I had mixed feelings about this book already, but decided to read on and see what was in the guide. As someone who has spent vast amounts of time outdoors, I found some of the book to be sound advice. However, the position that fixed blade knives are best, may get some poor young Scout into trouble as fixed blade knives are forbidden by the BSA. The guide to bears was well written; however the illustrations are hokey at best. Showing the difference between a black/brown bear and a grizzly would have been much more useful. Many of the chapters provide basic information with simple illustrations (like the chapter on knots, cooking, and edible plants), but are overly simple. It really does seem as if the author looked at a scouting guide and said, how can I simplify this?

Overall, I can't see a child or young adult getting too excited about nature, camping, adventuring, or survival after reading this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Roost books for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy.

This young adventurer’s guide has some interesting and useful information. It wasn’t a book my family would probably come back to, but I did find lots of helpful topics if your young adventurer is out in the wilderness. Some topics I enjoyed reading and would want my boys to know:
What to do if you encounter a bear on a trail.
What types of plants and bugs are edible.
What to pack for a camping trip.
Eve though there is some solid information in this book, I didn’t feel as if it would be a book I’d want my boys to read or would recommend to another outdoorsy family. It just didn’t work for me.
Thank you to Roost Books and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own.

This book will be a BIG hit with a certain subset of upper elementary and middle school readers. Would make a great gift for kids who enjoy nature and outdoor activities. Each chapter has information about a wilderness/camping skill and ends with step-by-step directions. It’s great to give kids a way to get busy and engaged outdoors. A large number of the activities are crafts or construction of things using natural materials. I definitely recommend previewing the book, and you might even wind up wanting to do some of the activities with your kids!

While this book was interesting and full of great information it lacked visual supplements that I think are very useful in the context of explaining how to do outdoor activities and to help young readers understand the topic at hand better.

I would like to be a children to try what is described in this book.
I reminded me of when I was a Guide and was learning about living in the nature.
It's well written, full of fascinating tipis and hints and lovely illustrations.
It can be a fascinating read for both children and adults.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC