Cold, wet, and acidic, bogs appear to be extremely hostile to life, yet numerous plants and animals have adapted in fascinating ways in order to survive there. In Big Belching Bog, Phyllis Root lets us in on the secrets of the mysterious bog, describing such special inhabitants as plants that eat insects, bog lemmings, and frogs that stay frozen through the winter and thaw out in the spring. But what's that coming up from the bottom of the bog? The biggest bog secret of all, we learn, is the remarkable process of methane gas belching out of the bog. The gas is created by decaying peat moss and forms a bulge in the surface of the moss six inches or taller before breaking through. Does this "belch" make a sound? No one knows, says Root, because no one has ever heard it. In fact, bogs are known as some of the quietest places on earth. Maybe you will be the first to hear the big bog belch! Illustrated by renowned woodcut artist Betsy Bowen, Big Belching Bog also contains a section of bog facts, including more information about the plants and animals mentioned in the book as well as tips for visiting a bog. Big Belching Bog will stir the imagination of young readers and teach them about the landscape and environment of these mysterious and, ahem, gassy places.

 

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards

This book has been graded for interest at 8-12 years.

There are 40 pages in this book. This book was published in 2023 by University of Minnesota Press .

Phyllis Root has been writing for children for thirty years and has published more than forty books for young children. She currently teaches in the MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program at Hamline University. Betsy Bowen has written and illustrated many children's books, including Antler, Bear, Canoe: A Northwoods Alphabet Year; Helen Hoover's Great Wolf and the Good Woodsman (Minnesota, 2005); and Phyllis Root's Big Belching Bog (Minnesota, 2010) and Plant a Pocket of Prairie . She lives in Grand Marais, Minnesota.