DuckTales Adventurer’s Guide: Explorer Skills And Outdoor Activities For Daring Kids!

By Media Lab Books

This fun, adventurous guide will show kids how to explore, play and create in new and exciting ways. Inside they’ll find guidelines for writing secret codes, building a spyglass, walking silently, identifying animal tracks, tying knots, detecting secret doors and passages, reading maps, building explorer kits for various environments, learning foreign language basics, and much more, all with the help of Uncle Scrooge and his adventurous nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie, as well as Webby Vanderquack and Launchpad McQuack. Readers will also find dozens of fun activities and challenges to play with friends, from capture the flag and wilderness scavenger hunts to obstacle courses.

Full color illustrations throughout make this a quack-tastic book for kids and DuckTales fans of all ages.

We first blogged about Media Lab Books’ Adventurer’s Guide back in February of this year. The book had appeared in our weekly Amazon.com searches, and the book description caught our attention for a couple of reasons. One, it sounded like a very cool book to share with our kids. I love spending time outdoors with my girls, and loved the idea of an adventure guide that would interest my girls because it connected with our favorite show. Two, the original description gave away the release of the second season of DuckTales! (And it ended up being correct!) Could Season Two of DuckTales 2017 Begin Airing In October!?

If you do not know that story, the book was removed form Amazon shortly after we discussed the discovery of the season two reference. I received an email that my preorder for the book had been cancelled. We did report on the book returning to amazon.com, but I somehow forgot to preorder it. After we reported on the books release at the beginning of October, I reached out to Media Labs and they were kind enough to send me a copy of the book for review.

The Review!

Quality of the Book!

The Adventurer’s Guide is a 128 page hardcover. The book’s cover is one of my all-time favorite DuckTales images. The cover art is the original promo image we saw when the show was first announced. Each page is full color and contains amazing artwork from both the show that airs on the Disney Channel and from the comic book that is published by IDW. The pages are nice, thick, glossy paper that feel like they will last for many adventures to come. The copy that I am reviewing has been thoroughly analyzed by my two girls, and I feel like it will hold up to their abuse.

I can’t get over the quality of the images in the book. There are several high-quality photographs in the book of ancient structures and beautiful landscapes. The images from the show are nice and crisp and I love the inclusion of the comic book artwork. (You know we are fans of IDW’s comic). Each and every turn of the page contains engaging artwork and the use of large fonts and exciting text to keep readers engaged.

The Content of the Book!

The book is fun to look at, and your kids are going to love examining every page. What surprised me most about this book was the educational value for young adventurers. I remember playing in the woods behind my childhood home with my cousins. Our outdoor play included pretending to be adventurers looking for lost treasure or investigating some monster that was terrorizing our town. Many of those adventures were inspired by our love for OG DuckTales. The new DuckTales has changed a few things, but that inspiration to explore still remains. Media Lab Books’ Adventurer’s Guide is the perfect companion for any kid whose playtime has been influenced by DuckTales.

My oldest daughter is old enough to read on her own, and she has enjoyed reading through the book. I have found several pages where she has folded a page corner into a “dog ear” to mark a specific skill or instruction. I noticed that she has marked the pages about how to pack a bag for adventure and how to canoe. I guess I know what adventure we need to go on next summer.

DuckTales Adventurer’s Guide is a great guidebook for adventure. It includes basic adventurer’s instructions like what to pack, how to tie knots, and first aid. The book teaches skills such as finding true north, how to read a map, and how to build a tool for seeing underwater. There are pages about preparing for an adventure on the sea, in foreign environments, and even how to interact with people from other cultures. I enjoyed watching my girls learn about famous explorers, ancient cultures, and historic landmarks. The book also includes connections with DuckTales by including guides on how to pan for gold like Scrooge in the Klondike, solve mysteries like the kids, check for traps, and learn about Scottish heritage. The book also includes outdoor activities and games that can make any adventure fun.

I would say the amount of information for these activities is the right amount for the book’s age range of 7 – 11 years old. It is definitely not as exhaustive as the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook, but it’s the right amount to help your child plan for their next adventure. As a parent I do like that the book encourages the little explorers to ask for permission before going on an adventure, exploring with a buddy instead of alone, and to always tell a grownup where they will be.

The Verdict!

If you are the parent of a child who enjoys DuckTales, and they have been inspired by the show to turn the next family outing into an adventure than this is the next book you need to buy. Your young, DuckTales fan will have fun looking at the images on every page, they are going to learn safety tips from the information within this book, and it is likely this book will inspire your family to have an adventure together. You will want to take this book with you on your next hike, trip to the lake, or backyard camping trip. The book’s retail price is $14.99 in the U.S.

You can buy your copy of DuckTales Adventurer’s Guide: Explorer Skills And Outdoor Activities for Daring Kids! on Amazon.com and support DuckTalks at no additional cost to you!