Cones from a spruce tree crunch under your boots. You pause to rest on a rock covered in green moss and colorful lichens. From a nearby treetop, you hear the high-pitched song of a magnolia warbler. To an experienced explorer, the signs are obvious. You’re in a boreal forest!

The new series Biomes of North America Second Editions is all about exploring the continent’s most important biomes. Observe a poison dart frog lounging on a mushroom cap, or find out what all conifer trees have in common. (Spoiler alert: It’s the cones.) Have you ever seen a blooming beavertail cactus? Read A Walk in the Desert, 2nd Edition, and you can answer, “Yes, I have seen that.”

For me, the best part of working on this series was helping to choose photos and write captions. The images are stunning, and you can see what I mean by paging to the beginning of each book.

Biomes of North America readers will learn how plants and animals interact with one another and their physical surroundings to create biomes. They’ll find out about seasonal life cycles and how climate change threatens the health of natural systems. But most of all, readers will go on an adventure full of interesting creatures, curious plants, and awesome landscapes that will inspire them to explore nature on their own.