Tag Archives: animals

Aardvark or Anteater?

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by Mari Schuh

Blastoff! Readers Level 1: Spotting Differences is a twenty book set that delves into the differences between animals. Each book focuses on a pair of animals and details their physical and behavioral traits. Text is accessible to your newest readers and accompanying illustrations are high quality and engaging. Nonfiction text features include table of contents, index, glossary and labeled diagrams. Unfamiliar words are bold type and the animal pair’s differences are repeated at the end as a wrap up. Suggested websites and resources are noted for further investigation.

Aardvark or Anteater? is a highly engaging look at two animals that initially seem very similar. Yet, we learn that despite those similarities, they are very different animals. They are both mammals with long tongues that eat ants. But, their fur, snouts, ears and habitats are very different. New readers will enjoy discovering new information in a simply written book packed with facts and wonderful photos. This won’t be on your shelves for long!

Crow or Raven?

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by Mari Schuh

Blastoff! Reader Level 1: Spotting Differences is a twenty books set that delves in the differences between animals. Each book focuses on a pair of animals and details their physical and behavioral traits. Text is accessible to your newest readers and accompanying illustrations are high quality and engaging. Nonfiction text features include table of contents, index, glossary and labeled diagrams. Unfamiliar word are bold type and the animal pair’s differences are repeated at the end as a wrap up. Suggested websites and resources are noted for further investigation.

Crow or Raven? There’s a lot to learn about these two types of birds! This book gives some really solid differences between two birds that seem very alike. For instance, crows have fan shaped tails and ravens have wedge shaped tails. Additionally, their beaks, size and throat feathers differ. Accompanying these memorable facts are photos that show those characteristics very clearly. Young readers will enjoy learning about these differences and will be quick to share! Word choice is appropriate to the audience and the nonfiction text features are helpful. Recommended.

Dolphin or Porpoise?

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by Mari Schuh

Blastoff! Readers Level 1: Spotting Differences is a twenty book set that delves into the differences between animals. Each book focuses on a pair of animals and details their physical and behavioral traits. Text is accessible to your newest readers and accompanying illustrations are high quality and engaging. Nonfiction text features include: table of contents, index, glossary and labeled diagrams. Unfamiliar words are bold type and the animal pair’s differences are repeated at the end as a wrap up. Suggested websites and resources are noted for further investigation.

Dolphin or Porpoise? starts out by sharing that both are mammals and swim in oceans or rivers. Then, the book describes several different features, including fin shape and size, tooth size and their general body types. Behavior differences are also touched upon. Young readers will be able to share some solid facts about each animal and make some great comparisons. This book would be great for beginning animal reports. It has just enough information to be interesting and not so much that it’s overwhelming. Perfect for the target audience!

Champion Chompers, Super Stinkers and Other Poems by Extraordinary Animals

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written by Linda Ashman and illustrated by Aparna Varma

Part science, part poetry and part riddle/puzzle book – what’s not to love about this delightful book? Nineteen animals that are record-holders of some sort (fastest, slowest, tallest, stinkiest and so forth) are introduced by a personified mask poems and a portion of the animal to tease the reader. Turn the page and the full animal is there along with a paragraph detailing its claim to fame along with some well-chosen extra facts. At the end, there is information about protecting endangered animals and suggested websites. There is also guidance about measurements and mask poems. Finally, there is a glossary and recommended reading for further investigation.

The fun game-like format along with the accessible poetry and information makes this a book that should be in everyone’s library. It is nonfiction that can be used in so many ways (examples are animal units, nonfiction studies, poetry units, conservation lessons). But, not only is it a great book for lessons. It is a fascination, fun read for students. And, that makes it a winner in all areas!

The Little Owl & the Big Tree : A Christmas Story by Jonah Winter

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This is the story of Rockefeller, the famous little owl, whose story entranced a nation in November, 2020. Each year, a tree is chosen and cut for placement at the Rockefeller Center in New York City. Sometimes, it is trucked from many miles away. In this case, the tree had an inhabitant, a tiny saw-whet owl. This small creature came down with the tree when it was cut and traveled on a truck to New York City. It wasn’t until the tree was being prepared for placement that the owl was discovered by a kind man, whose wife drove Rockefeller to a wildlife rehabilitation center. The owl was given food, water and shelter until she could be released back into the wild. Television and radio stations, newspapers and online news programs followed the story of this tiny owl and people everywhere cheered when it was reported that she was back in nature where she belonged.

This is a lovely, simply written account of Rockefeller’s story. The accompanying illustrations are soft and cozy, with a lot of purples, greens and blues. An author’s note at the end of the story give details about the event as well. This is a sweet addition to holiday story collections. Teachers could add online news segments that followed Rockefeller’s story as well as information about that the saw-whet owl species. Highly recommended.

Insects by the Numbers: A book of infographics by Steve Jenkins

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Steve Jenkins has done it again. This is a science book that every budding entomologist will love and so will those readers that aren’t super fans. Aspects of the insect world are brilliantly and succinctly described using simple infographics, illustrations and spare text. This book is chock-full of facts presented in an accessible way. Includes glossary, bibliography and table of contents. Buy this book right away. Highly Recommended.

The Beak Book by Robin Page

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This book is takes a close look at twenty one different birds’ beaks, their shapes and uses. Some beaks are for filtering and others are for crushing or tossing. Each beak is described and pictured in colorful detail. Budding ornithologists will devour the information in this book and will never look at birds (or beaks) the same way again.

The last few pages include size comparisons with the average adult human, where the birds live and what they eat. There is also a short bibliography and further reading noted on the last page. Highly recommended.

Ayes-Ayes

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A book about Aye-Ayes is difficult to find, yet here is one that is full of great pictures and information. Readers learn about the characteristics of this animal, as well as its habitat, food sources and population levels. Labeled photos, bolded words, text boxes and short, informative paragraphs make this nonfiction book an engaging read. Other nonfiction features include table of contents, index, glossary and an online resource list. The “bells and whistles” of this book are the QR codes that lead the reader to linked videos and activities online. That is some great extra content!

This books is part of the Weird and Wonderful Animals series. Adding this to your collection will add some dimension to the typical shelves of big cats, elephants whales and so forth. How many librarians can point a student to the Aye-Aye book? Recommended.

Masters of Disguise

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Six animals and their use of color, shape or markings to disguise themselves are described in this colorful slim volume from the Animal Superpowers series. The animals are from a variety of habitats, from ocean to desert and their natural abilities in camouflage are noted as occurring for a variety of important reasons. We learn that some animals are predators and use this ability to sneak up on their prey and others use it as a protection against their own predators.

Full color photos complement the text and bold words are defined in a glossary at the end of the book. Some cartoon-like illustrations break up the text and “Now you know!” boxes with additional cool facts are interspersed throughout.

This is a good introductory book to a variety of species and their use of camouflage. It might be lead to further investigation into this aspect of the animal kingdom.

Snail & Worm: All Day

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Snail and Worm star in three lovely stories in this sweet picture book for early readers. In Best Day Ever, Snail defines a “good day” very differently. His day didn’t go too well, but others had wonderful experiences and he was happy for them; hence, the best day ever! The Spooky Cave is a story about a dragon…er, turtle, that scares Snail enough to cause him to ‘run’ away even though Worm tries to tell Snail that the animal is really a turtle. And, the third story is A Bedtime Story that highlights the sweet relationship of these two friends. The pen and watercolor illustrations lend themselves to the simple story line quite well. Characters’ emotions are displayed and add to the humor of the book.

Give this book to readers who enjoy friendship stories like Elephant and Piggie or Frog and Toad. Snail & Worm have the same sweet, loyal friendship and will be a welcome addition to your collection.

Fear the Bunny

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A tiger happens upon a group of woodland animals listening to the hedgehog reading a book about scary bunnies. That doesn’t sit well with the tiger. So, he tries to explain to them that HE is much more fierce than bunnies. What will they do – cute him to death? He scoffs until a band of headlamp wearing bunnies begin to chase him and the story ends with the tiger reading a story about scary bunnies to a group of animals, including other tigers!

Cartoon-like illustrations accompany a cute story that vaguely references the poem “The Tyger” by William Blake, which is printed at the end of the book. Students will enjoy this slightly scary and cute story, although they might not appreciate its connection to the poem.

Kiwi Cannot Reach!

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Kiwi has a problem – he wants to pull the rope and he cannot reach it! Will the reader help? This interactive beginning reader is written with cartoon-like illustrations and word bubbles. The sentences are short and the words are accessible, while still moving the story along. Readers who enjoy Elephant & Piggie will giggle along with this fun story about an engaging, but helpless, little kiwi.

Crab Cake

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Crab Cake, written by the author of Accident! starts out innocently enough. The sea creatures are doing what sea creatures normally do – “Seahorse pretends to be seaweed” and “Puffer fish puffs up” and “Crab bakes cakes’ – what?? Yes, crab is a different sort of sea creature and bakes lovely cakes. This comes in handy when disaster strikes their lovely undersea world. A boat comes by and dumps a huge amount of trash into their home. Everything turns dark and they all freeze! Then, crab does what crab does best – he bakes a cake. The other sea creatures come out of hiding and begin to relax, brainstorming ideas as they eat his yummy creation. They are united in their resolve and each works with the others to clean up the terrible mess. They deposit the pile of garbage on the dock with a sign that reads “Come get your junk!’. And, life turns back to normal. The sea is clean and bright, the animals are doing what they do and crab is baking cakes (with some help from his friends!).

This story is so multifaceted in its message! While it is a lovely little narrative about a crab that doesn’t act like his fellow sea creatures, it is also a powerful reminder that individuals can come together to solve a big problem and highlights that individuals can all contribute in some way to the solution. In this case, “Snapper shoves”, “Clownfish rolls”, “Clam encourages” and all the other sea creatures help in their own ways to clean up their home and send a message to the humans above. This book is also a reminder that we shouldn’t stand by and let the others destroy the earth. All of this begins with a crab that bakes!

The last page has some great links to a variety of ocean environmental websites that are appropriate for kids. Read this book during Earth Day or any day that you are empowering your students to work together to benefit the world!

Nobody Hugs a Cactus

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Hank was the epitome of a prickly cactus. He was grumpy, mean and wanted to be alone. He grumps at all manner of possible friends, from tumbleweed to coyote, until a cowboy strolls by and says “Nobody hugs a cactus”. It is at that moment that Hank wonders if a hug might be a nice thing to have. He goes from grumpy and mean to sad and lonely. One day, a cup flies by in the breeze and gets stuck on his face and he can’t get it off. Fortunately, Rosie the tumbleweed tumbles by and knocks it off. Her act of kindness kindles a yearning for friendship and reciprocity. So, Hank grows a lovely little flower to thank Rosie. When she next tumbles by he reaches out to give it her and she hugs him. Oops, he’s a cactus and can’t let go of Rosie! But, Hank decides that “…it’s better to be stuck in a hug than stuck all alone”.

This pictures in this lovely book are done in earth tones with water color. The characters are typical of a desert – cactus, tumbleweed, tortoise, hare, coyote and cowboy. Interestingly, one can see (and believe) the emotions playing out on the cactus’ face as he transforms from a grumpy guy to a friendly hug-lover. Students will enjoy his change of heart and hope that the other characters come back for hugs, too!

The Frog Book

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The Frog Book is a 33 page mix of glorious illustrations and amazing facts about some of the over 6,000 (that we know of so far) amphibians that inhabit most parts of the world. Information is presented in small bites under such page headings as “What is a frog?” and “Finding a mate”. While this information could tend to be somewhat dry if presented in a flat, fact-filled tome, it is nothing short of incredible in this incarnation. Many of the pictures are presented half life-sized, except for a few notables (the largest and smallest, fore example). Some of the illustrations are labeled and there is a fine two page spread of the life cycle of a typical frog. Students will love the detailed information given in this book and, I am sure, will ask to share some of the more ‘interesting’ facts such as the facts that the golden poison frog has enough poison to kill ten adult humans and the hairy frog (yes, it does look a little hairy!) can break its own finger bones that penetrate its skin and act like claws. Wow! I want to learn more about frogs now! This magnificent book will enthrall your young scientists and turn your non-scientists into frog experts hungry for more!

Saltwater Crocodiles

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Saltwater Crocodiles describes the largest reptile in a succinct (two to three sentences per page), well-written manner with incredible photos of a crocodile swimming, leaping out of the water and more. Information is often presented with comparisons so that the reader has a better sense of the enormity of this animal. Words that might be unfamiliar to the reader are highlighted and there are additional facts near the end of the book. It includes a glossary, index and table of contents. Additional online materials may be accessed with an included code.

This is a wonderful book for young students that want to learn some basic facts about this giant animal. This book is part of the Abdo Super Species series and well worth your money. It won’t stay on the shelves long!

Thornghost

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This fantasy transports Niklas Summerhill to Nightmare territory where animals walk and talk and are where there is battle waged between good and evil. Niklas is accompanied by a talking lynx who fulfils the role of companion and protector.  This is a dark story between good and evil. It does not stand alone easily.  It should be read as a sequel to The Twistrose Key to provide the backstory of Niklas’ mother’s adventures with the petlings and wildlings of nightmare territory.  

Purchase if you have strong fantasy readers who are looking for a new animal adventure or if you have a strong readership for The Twistrose Key.

The Daring Escape of The Misfit Menagerie

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Misfit Menagerie

“Smalls the sun bear, Tilda the Angora rabbit, Rigby the Komondor dog, and Wombat the wombat are the four animals that make up “the misfit menagerie.”
Together they’ve always lived a happy life on Mr. Mumford’s farm. That is, until one fateful evening when Mumford, loopy from elderberry wine, accidentally loses them to the dastardly circus owner Grande Master Claude. Suddenly, these animals are forced to perform death-defying tricks and live in filthy, cramped cages as members of Claude’s traveling circus. But all hope is not lost! Claude’s nephew Bertie and his friend Susan, a circus acrobat, are equally fed up with Claude’s evil ways, and together they might just have what it takes to find their ticket out of the circus.” Amazon.com

Resnick is a writer who creates characters worth caring about and a plot line that keeps the reader engaged.  However, the abuse that occurs is harsh.  Once the reader has begun to care about the characters it is very hard to read the detailed description of their individual cruel treatments and sufferings. An angry elephant, a hot-to-trot Zebra and an elderly monkey who has given up on life are a few of the side characters.  These animals are starkly contrasted by the main animals: a wombat, a sun bear, a Komondor dog and an angora rabbit who live an idyllic existence until a cruel circus master swindles them away from their loving owner.  The circus master also “owns” two children.  One performs in the circus and the other does everything necessary to help keep a circus running.
The story line is very engaging and the writing style is fluid and descriptive. Perhaps a bit too strong in many instances where the cruelty and abuse is concerned. The harshness without redeeming or redemptive outcomes makes me rate this book as not recommended.
There is a sequel and perhaps that will add light and meaning to this work.

The Animal Book: A Collection of the Fastest, Fiercest, Toughest, Cleverest, Shyest – and Most Surprising – Animals on Earth

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Beautiful, large, illustrations accompany fascinating, intriguing, brief information on some 300 of the world’s most remarkable animals.  A delight for anyone interested in wild animals, from young children through adults.  Truly, a lovely, interesting book!  The author and illustrator, Steve Jenkins, has been interested in animals since he “wrote” his first book when in grade school.

Book is about 14″ x 9″.

Drops of Life

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The first thing I noticed were the beautiful illustrations in this book. It is was initially drew my attention.

Secondly, I was drawn in by the message described on the back pages.  Here I learned about an organization called ENO (Environment Online) that helps spread awareness and knowledge about sustainable development.  This online environment allows students around the world to share their learning with our global community.  This piqued my curiosity and thought this would be a wonderful resource for teachers and students.

And lastly, once again from the back page, I learned that this story is a well-known children’s play that has been performed in over eighty countries.

With all these positive attributes, I felt I really should have liked this book more; however, I found it to be choppy and unremarkable.  It is easy to envision this as a play by the way it is written, but it makes for stilted reading.  Perhaps something was lost in the translation, but as I was reading through this I couldn’t help but feel as if the dialogue is something that the students themselves would have created.  For this reason, I think students may like it as a play, but will have a difficult time being engaged for reading pleasure.

W is For Wapitit! An Alphabet Song Book

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K Mister Ka the Koala

Mister Ka the Koala
Has four kids
Armani, Tapio, Mo and Pol
Armani Ka, Tapio Ka and Mo Ka
and Pol…..
he hates being called Pol Ka

This book is full of fun word play and child like imaginings.  It comes with a music CD which is very nice to have, but certainly not necessary for the book to be enjoyed.  Each letter is given a two page spread of pencil and watercolor drawings.  The last pages contain the alphabet, A-Z, titled let’s sing it again.

Catchy tunes, silly stories and engaging illustrations will make this a favorite of teachers and students alike.

 

David, Fish & Penguins…

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 This simple story is about one little boy’s vivid imagination as it plays out from his waking in the morning, until his settling in for sleep at night. Each two page spread is awash in beautiful, rich colors that depict different animals.  The main character, David, is a cartoon outline with no color, while the animals from his imagination appear more alive than David with their lively color.  This book is a visual feast and children will find the illustrations engaging.

Translated from Spanish.