Amber Elmore knows a thing or two about living simply and joyfully. She grew up on Watters Smith Memorial State Park in West Milford, WV as the daughter of a park superintendent, and has carried her love of nature and living life adventurously into her adult life. She is a volunteer firefighter and stay at home mom to a three year old. She now lives in Sissonville, WV with her husband Eddie, daughter Raegan, and cat Faith. She is currently a tech news writer and editor and has written Christian fiction, inspirational nonfiction, and poetry. The Betsy Beansprout Series is her first published work.

Reviewed by Karen P. for Readers' Favorite

"Betsy Beansprout Adventure Guide" by Amber Elmore is a delightful tale about a six year old girl whose favorite friends are park workers and park animals. Betsy lives in a State Park in West Virginia and she spends her days in adventure uncommon to most children. She loves mud, frogs, bugs and furry friends and she has to entertain herself because she lives "out in the boondocks" where people visit and then, leave.

Betsy presents the do's and don'ts of visiting a State Park. She warns children to stay on the trail and not to feed the animals. She tells children they should have fun exploring while keeping in mind the safety rules of being in the wild. Betsy tells children how to appreciate nature and to leave it as God intended. She prides herself on being able to spend time alone with nature for an entire day. Betsy suggests games you can play in the park and she also has tips on preparing a picnic lunch.

The book is intended for K-3 level children and it is highly appropriate for this audience. The illustrations are absolutely captivating. It is a book which must be read more than once as there is a great deal of information for a young child to absorb in one reading. Parents who love back-to-nature outings and vacations would do well to have this book as a companion to be read in the car and discussed along the way.