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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 310 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 310 pagesAbout this book
In Mexico’s forests and volcanic highlands, a boy discovers that adventure begins with looking closely.
In Adventures of a Young Naturalist, Lucien Biart follows a boy through Mexico’s wild landscapes. He walks the land, watches animals, and collects plants and insects. From hot coastal lowlands to cool mountain country, each place offers something new to notice—and a reason to keep exploring.
Biart draws on his own observations of Mexico to bring its forests, wildlife, and people within reach. Large cats and snakes call for care as well as curiosity. This is travel with a patient eye: the pleasure lies in discovering how much a young observer can learn by paying attention.
What you’ll discover
- The art of noticing Follow a boy whose education begins outdoors, with the plants and creatures around him.
- A land of contrasts Travel from hot lowlands into cool highlands, with forests and volcanic peaks to explore.
- Wildlife worth respecting Meet large cats, snakes, birds, and insects through a young naturalist’s curious, watchful eye.
- Lessons along the path Discover how walking, watching, and collecting turn a journey into an education in nature.
- An older outdoor adventure Enjoy a patient tale that makes learning about the natural world part of the adventure.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy true-to-life journeys, curious facts about animals and plants, warm friendships across cultures, and a child hero who learns by doing.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A father makes room for courage
- Sugar reveals the people behind it
- The storm exposes their shared dependence
- A blocked path calls for invention
- The plateau brings grief and welcome
- The careful father loses the way
- Courage changes with the danger
- Friendship respects different kinds of knowledge
- Knowing nature begins with meeting it
Who’s who
- LucienThe nine-year-old son, nicknamed Sunbeam, who begs to join the trip and wants to prove he can walk, hunt and learn like a man.
- The fatherThe narrator, a naturalist collecting specimens, who wants his son to grow up strong and keeps him safe while teaching him.
- SumichrastA tall Swiss scholar and bird expert, calm and cheerful, who teaches Lucien science and takes his side.
- L'EncueradoA Mistec Indian and old tiger hunter who loves Lucien, protects him fiercely and explains the world in his own way.
- GringaletA greyhound raised by l'Encuerado, who joins the expedition uninvited and often stays close to Lucien to watch over him.
- CoyotepecThe white-haired patriarch of a hidden valley, who welcomes the travelers and shares his home.
- TorribioCoyotepec's eldest son, who carries cochineal to market and bargains hard for a telescope.
- Master JobA young monkey the travelers adopt in the forest, who becomes friends with Gringalet.
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25 languages, side by side
Adventures of a Young Naturalist in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Adventures of a Young Naturalist
by Lucien Biart
A nine-year-old boy sets out on foot across Mexico with a naturalist, a Mistec hunter and a greyhound.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
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“Habit makes many things easy that seem impossible at first.”
In short
What would you do if your nine-year-old son begged to come along on a three-hundred-league walk through the wildest parts of Mexico? In this book, a naturalist father says yes.
Adventures of a Young Naturalist at a glance
- Reading time
- About 6 h 10 min4 h 55 min fast, 7 h 20 min slow
- Length
- 87,900 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A boy persuades his father to take him
In a house in Orizava, a father is cleaning his guns and insect cases when his nine-year-old son Lucien comes running. He promises to gather firewood, help with the cooking, catch butterflies and never cry, except when he cannot help it.
The father means to refuse. Yet he finds himself arguing in the boy's favor. He remembers walking long distances with his own father at seven. He trusts l'Encuerado, the Mistec servant who has followed him for twelve years and would guard the child like his own.
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A nine-year-old boy sets out on foot across Mexico with a naturalist, a Mistec hunter and a greyhound.
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Details
- Language
- English
- Level
- Medium level
- Paperback
- 310 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 310 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print paperback
- 510 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Large print hardcover
- 510 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Delivery and returns
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For Christmas, order by Thu 12 Nov
Cite this edition
Biart, Lucien. Adventures of a Young Naturalist. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/adventures-of-a-young-naturalist.
Biart, L. (2026). Adventures of a young naturalist. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/adventures-of-a-young-naturalist
Biart, Lucien. Adventures of a Young Naturalist. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/adventures-of-a-young-naturalist.
@book{biart2026adventures,
author = {Biart, Lucien},
title = {Adventures of a Young Naturalist},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/adventures-of-a-young-naturalist}
}
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What is Adventures of a Young Naturalist about?
It follows a naturalist, his nine-year-old son Lucien, a Swiss scholar and a Mistec hunter as they walk through the mountains, forests and plains of Mexico, collecting specimens and learning about nature along the way.
Who is l'Encuerado?
He is a Mistec Indian who serves the narrator and is also his friend. An old tiger hunter, he wears leather clothes, which gives him his name, and he adores young Lucien and guards him on the trip.
Is Adventures of a Young Naturalist a true story?
It is a novel for young readers by the French naturalist Lucien Biart, who lived in Mexico. The trip is told as a first-person tale, and the natural history in it comes from the author's own knowledge of the country.
The author
Lucien Biart
1829–1897 · French writer and naturalist
French writer and naturalist.
“Habit makes many things easy that seem impossible at first.”
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