How Do Animal Babies Live?

Brynie, Faith Hickman. How Do Animal Babies Live?

Enslow 2010 32p 22.60 I Like Reading About Animals(Enslow)

978-0-7660-3327-6 elem VG-BNe

Discusses how different animal babies, including cheetahs, lemurs, and African elephants, survive the early stages of their lives and grow up, with photographs. Hard to resist close up photos of a variety of baby animals is what will attract young readers to this title. Some, like the penguin chick, are cute and some, like the cuckoo chick are ugly but all are fun to look at. The publisher notes that the book is written on two reading levels (new reader and fluent reader) and indeed there are two separate text paragraphs but the beginning reader will be a challenge to beginning readers. Nonetheless, the text is informative and young readers will learn many new facts about how baby animals are born, grown and are cared for by their parents. Each two page spread is introduced with a question about the animal in the photograph. For example, the photos of the crocodile show the mother croc with her baby held between her sharp teeth, with the question “Is this baby crocodile safe?” The first paragraph for new readers answers the question while the second paragraph for fluent readers provides more detailed information on the animal. Includes a Table of Contents, Words to Know and an Index. Of note, the book is printed on 10% to 30% recycled paper, which provides a quality appearance and finish to the book. Zajko, Rosanne

Do Animals Work Together?

Brynie, Faith Hickman. Do Animals Work Together?

Enslow 2010 32p 22.60 I Like Reading About Animals(Enslow)

978-0-7660-3328-3 elem E-BN

A fun and interesting look at how and why animals communicate with each other and how the communication benefits them. Loaded with interesting and appropriate photographs. The focus of this book is both animal communication and cooperation. The author begins by telling the reader that animals have ways to tell each other what they want. “They make sounds. They move in special ways. They touch each other.”(5) She then proceeds to supply examples on how this communication takes place within different species.
As with other titles in the series the photographs draw in the reader. The information, with its specific focus, transmits the intended facts. The selection of animal species is unusual and include birds, lizards, mammals, and insects.
This colorful book doesn’t overwhelm its audience with too much information. Supplemental materials include references to additional sources of information and a very nice index.
Spadaro, Trish

How Do Animals Stay Safe?

Brynie, Faith Hickman. How Do Animals Stay Safe?

Enslow 2010 32p 22.60 I Like Reading About Animals(Enslow)

978-0-7660-3326-9 elem VG-BNes

Twelve different animals, with twelve different ways of protecting themselves from predators, are presented in this wonderful picture book. The book is very appealing, with beautiful full-color photos of animals, large print, and two different sections on each page, one for beginning readers and one for slightly more fluent readers. There is a table of contents, a glossary in the front (very welcome!), an index, and resources for further information.
The only fault I found with this book was on page 18: “Sea slubs live in the ocean. There is poison in its body” is quite jarring, and clearly was overlooked by the proofreader. This should be corrected in subsequent editions. Kennedy, Carol

Which Animals Are the Best Athletes?

Brynie, Faith Hickman. Which Animals Are the Best Athletes?

Enslow 2010 32p 22.60 I Like Reading About Animals(Enslow)

978-0-7660-3329-0 elem VG-BNe

Animals and their athletic prowess are presented with full page photographs in this interesting and informative book for the young reader. Animals include the typical and the unusual, from the cheetah and the kangaroo to the gibbon and the leaf-cutter ant. Not surprisingly, most children aspire to be athletic. In this book, children learn that the definition of athletic is not “big, strong or swift.” Instead, children see the marvels of the animal world, small and large, weird-looking and wild, creepy and beautiful. The strengths of this book lie in the author’s choice of animals, the colorful pictures of animals in their natural habitats and the dual-presentation of both elementary and more advanced vocabulary for new and fluent readers. First, children learn which animals are the best athletes including which are the best lifters, the highest jumpers, the fastest runners, the hardest kickers! Faith Hickman Brynie’s choices of the cheetah, the mantis shrimp, the gibbon and the sperm whale, among others, show nature in all of its talented variety, and the text is interesting. In fact, with the pictures of each animal, she presents basic information about the animal’s skill followed by a more advanced description of the animal and its athletic ability for an older elementary school-aged student. There is a list of vocabulary words for new and advanced readers which has a pronunciation guide as well. At the end of the book, there is a list of sources to consult and an index. The sign of a good book which will promote literacy as well as knowledge of science is when, upon arriving at the end of the book, the child wants to keep on reading. This book guarantees it! Squaresky, Martha