Spooky Lakes is the smart book kids need this fall

Geo Rutherford is a social media sensation, with more than 2 million tiktok and insta followers hanging on her every word when it comes to spooky lakes. Professionally, she's an art teacher, but she's best known on social media for her limnology, that is, the study of lakes. How is she getting so many people excited about studying lakes? Making it fun, of course! In particular, Geo is known for her "spooky lakes" videos in which she highlights creepy and exciting things about lakes and explains the geology and history behind them.

And now she's bringing her limnology fun to bookstores near you with her new book Spooky Lakes, which I received a free copy of to review. Here's what you should know about Spooky Lakes, by Geo Rutherford, available 9/24/24.

Who is Geo Rutherford?

Geo Rutherford is a Wisconsin artist, teacher, and lake expert! She is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and Visual Arts Director for the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and is especially passionate about the Great Lakes. Her artwork showcasing the great lakes and other lakes around the world is truly impressive. You can find out more about Geo Rutherford and her artwork on her website, GeoRutherford.com. She is best known online for her "spooky lakes" series as @Geodesaurus on TikTok and Instagram where she highlights a spooky lake each day in October, since October 2020. You can learn more and shop for Spooky Lakes month merch like stickers and t-shirts on SpookyLakes.com

Inside Spooky Lakes

Rutherford's new book Spooky Lakes shares the true stories of 25 lakes around the world, from Lake Baikal in Russia to Lake Superior right here in the Midwest USA. There are shipwrecks, seals, golden treasure, sharks, lava, nuclear waste, and mummified bats. 

All of these lakes have fascinating geology, hydrography, history, ecology, and/or wildlife to share, and Rutherford does an amazing job of making the exciting parts of this come to life in a way that I think is really going to resonate with the young readers who are her target audience with this particular book.

The book is recommended by the publisher for ages 8-12 and I think that's a great general guideline. My oldest would've loved it probably from about 3 or 4 (he has always loved science and spooky stuff), my 7-year-old thought it was interesting but a bit too spooky for her tastes, and my 11-year-old LOVES is and has been carrying it around with him. 

I think Spooky Lakes would be great for an upper elementary classroom or homeschooling family as a read aloud (it'd be so fun for teachers or parents to highlight a spooky lake of the day in October just like Geo does on her social media platforms!), and I could also totally see a middle school teacher having kids each choose one of the lakes in the book to create a project or report on for class. But it also seems like a great gift for any kid who loves reading about adventurous nonfiction topics. And I love that it's so original. We have so many books we bought for our oldest about dinosaurs, space, the ocean, etc. But this is our first book about lakes, which seems surprising when we usually visit a lake at least once each summer, like so many Midwest families.

And I think that lake fans, especially spooky lake fans, will enjoy this book well beyond that age range. It'd also be such a great title for lake resorts to include in their lodge book collections and gift shops. I will 100 percent be bringing my copy with me to the lake next summer and when a storm hits (seems like it always happens at least one day!) I am going to gather my kids and my older nephews around to read it as thunder crashes outside and the waves swell on the lake, and they are going to love it so much. 

While Rutherford does an excellent job throughout of capturing exciting and adventurous details that kids will love, the Spooky Lakes fun doesn't stop there. She also added 111 cute tiny ghosties throughout the book, so as kids read and learn and enjoy the stunning illustrations, they also can enjoy the treasure hunt of looking for ghosties throughout.

Aren't they cute?? And the gouache painted lake scenes are so gorgeous. It's definitely the kind of book that feels like an art piece as well as informative, and I hope it wins lots of illustration awards. 

Overall, I was way more impressed by this book than I even expected to be, and I will definitely watch for future books by Geo Rutherford. To use her own scale, I give Spooky Lakes 10/10 Spookies for being adventurous, fascinating, hauntingly beautiful, and just plain cool.

Get your own copy of Spooky Lakes

Spooky Lakes by Geo Rutherford, published by Abrams Books, is available in hardcover as of September 24, 2024.  The book is 96 pages long, and it's surprisingly big (about 14 by 11 inches!) You can get your own copy of Spooky Lakes from your favorite book retailer online or in person, throughout the Midwest and beyond. It was in stock at the Sioux City Southern Hills Barnes & Noble at time of posting this.