Animals

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Animal Planet’s Weird and Wonderful: Show-Offs

January 5, 2012 in Animals, Nonfiction, STEM Friday, Science by Roberta | 4 comments

Animal Planet’s Weird and Wonderful: Show-offs by Margaret McPhee is about intriguing animals that are sure to surprise and delight young readers. It has been recommended by the National Science Teacher’s Association.

The eye-catching color photographs and illustrations will be what attracts the reader’s attention first, which is appropriate. After all, the book is about animals that use bright colors and flashy behaviors to attract attention of mates, warn off predators and, believe it or not, blend in with their surroundings. However, the book is also full of interesting facts and amazing stories about animals that are both familiar and exotic.

Sometimes with “showy” books like this the concepts get lost between the pretty pictures, but that isn’t the case with Show-offs. Each new section builds on the previous ones, providing a sound conceptional framework for those that take the time to read the captions. The photographs and illustrations are sure to draw in the reluctant reader, making them want to know more. They will be enticed to read the text and to turn the next page.

In addition to a useful book for the science classroom, Show-offs would be a very nice gift book for youngsters interested in animals.

For more information and related activities:

Reading level: Ages 6 and up
Hardcover: 64 pages
Publisher: Kingfisher (September 27, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0753467224
ISBN-13: 978-0753467220

This book was provided by the publisher for review purposes.

Rovingfiddlehead Kidlit is hosting the Stem Friday meme this week. Be sure to visit for links to more excellent STEM books.

If you would like to participate in STEM Friday in the future, go to Booktalking blog for more information.

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Elephant Talk: The Surprising Science of Elephant Communication

December 23, 2011 in Animals, Cybils 2011 Nonfiction, Middle Grade Nonfiction, Nonfiction, STEM Friday, Science by Roberta | 3 comments

Elephant Talk: The Surprising Science of Elephant Communication by Ann Downer is a comprehensive look at elephant social behavior, including a detailed overview of exciting recent findings about how elephants communicate. This book has been nominated for a Cybils award in the MG/YA nonfiction category. 

In the first chapter Downer explores many aspects of elephant biology, laying a firm foundation for the chapters on elephant communication that follow. She discusses the three species of elephant found in the world today, the African, Asian and forest elephants, as well as their distribution.

Once the groundwork is laid, she reveals many amazing new scientific findings. Did you know that elephants regularly make sounds that humans can’t hear? Did you know that elephants can “talk” to one another via their feet? How about that some “chirp” and other “shake hands”? It turns out that elephants are incredibly intelligent social creatures.

In one example not found in the book, a scientist tested elephants tendency to cooperate by creating a rigging that gives a reward of a banana snack only if two elephants work together to pull on ropes. An article in Wired Science discusses how one elephant not only learned to cooperate to get a snack, but it also learned a shortcut by standing on the rope instead of tugging it. Wow!

In the final chapter of her book, Downer examines some of the complex relationships between humans and elephants throughout the world. Although some of the facts are grim, there are reasons for hope that elephants will be able to survive to be a source of wonder for future generations.

Simply Science has another great review and several related links and activities.

This has been a good year for elephant books. We also reviewed The Elephant Scientist by Caitlin O’Connell and Donna M. Jackson, and Beco’s Big Year:  A Baby Elephant Turns One by Linda Stanek with related activities at Growing With Science.

Reading level: Ages 8 and up
Library Binding: 112 pages
Publisher: Twenty First Century Books (January 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0761357661
ISBN-13: 978-0761357667

Stem Friday is at Booktalking. Click through for links to more excellent STEM books.

If you would like to participate in STEM Friday in the future, go to Booktalking blog for more information.

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The Manatee Scientists: Saving Vulnerable Species

December 16, 2011 in Animals, Cybils 2011 Nonfiction, Middle Grade Nonfiction, Nonfiction, STEM Friday, Science by Roberta | 1 comment

The Manatee Scientists: Saving Vulnerable Species by Peter Lourie, part of the respected Scientists in the Field series, follows scientists from around the world trying to learn more about manatees in a race protect them from extinction.

Manatees are fascinating. Distantly related to elephants, these large, lumbering herbivores live exclusively in warm waters. They are found in Florida, the Caribbean, the Amazon, and West Africa.

As the title suggests, the book follows leading manatee scientists in their studies. Peter Lourie documents the techniques the scientists use and the problems they encounter. In the Amazon River basin, the author accompanies Fernando Rosas on a boat trip to follow radio-tagged manatees that have been released from captivity.  He flies with John Reynolds, who does an aerial count of manatees in warm Florida waters, and shows researcher Lucy Keith rescuing West African manatees trapped behind a dam in Senegal. Sadly, one of the problems the scientists encounter in trying to preserve the wild populations is that the people who live along the rivers in both South America and Africa rely on manatees for food.

Peter Lourie is a photographer as well as author, and took many of the numerous color photographs. His narration adds a real sense of adventure to what the scientists are doing.

Cybils notes: It would have been nice to see a bit more about what the scientists were finding out. By that I mean I wondered what their results were, not just their methods. For example, it would be nice to learn if manatees really are useful to keep down vegetation in lakes that serve hydroelectric plants. Also, it would probably have been appropriate to mention the Steller’s sea cow, a relative of the manatees that really did go extinct.

The Manatee Scientists: Saving Vulnerable Species has been nominated for a Cybils award in the MG/YA nonfiction category. It will be a big hit with nature lovers and budding scientists. For informal science, use the book to accompany a trip to an aquarium that houses manatees, or even better, a trip to Florida to see manatees in the wild.

Video of Florida manatees in action:

Reading level: Ages 9 and up
Hardcover: 80 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (April 11, 2011)
ISBN-10: 054715254X
ISBN-13: 978-0547152547

Stem Friday is at Celebrate Science today. Click through for links to more excellent STEM books.

If you would like to participate in STEM Friday in the future, go to Booktalking blog for more information.

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My Life in the Wild: Penguin and Cheetah

November 4, 2011 in Animals, Nonfiction, STEM Friday by Roberta | 1 comment

Today we have two high-quality books in Animal Planet’s My Life in the Wild series, Penguin by Meredith Costain and illustrated by Gary Hanna, and Cheetah by Meredith Costain and illustrated by Mick Posen.

You can feel the caliber of these books starting with their well-crafted, padded covers. In Penguin an emperor penguin tells the story in first person, saying, “My life begins inside an egg.” After his mother and father struggle to survive through the difficult winter, the chick hatches, his mother and father feeds him, and before you know it, he is all grown up and ready for his first swim. This part is written for the beginning reader, with large illustrations full of color and texture.

Following the main story there are four pages of more detailed information with smaller illustrations that are just right for an adult to read and discuss with a child who wants to know more. Finally there are pictures of ten different kinds of penguins and a quiz to help the reader observe the differences more closely.

Cheetah follows a similar format, but the illustrations are even more amazing. Illustrator Mick Posen uses digital technology to its fullest, creating images that blur with movement. You feel like you could reach out and feel the fur of the little cheetahs. His images are as 3D as you can get on a flat page.

In “Meet the Cat Family,” there are illustrations of six more kinds of cats: lions, jaguar, serval, margay, tiger and lynx. Once again the quiz invites the reader to observe closely. “How many have short tails?”

These books would be great to accompany a trip to the zoo or a unit on life cycles.

There’s a new penguin movie coming out November 18, Happy Feet Two (See trailer below). A popular movie like this will often spark a child’s interest in an animal that is featured, so be prepared to pull out an informational text like Penguin and help him or her find out more.

Penguin by Meredith Costain and illustrated by Gary Hanna

Reading level: Ages 4 and up
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Kingfisher (September 27, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0753467240
ISBN-13: 978-0753467244

Cheetah by Meredith Costain and illustrated by Mick Posen

Reading level: Ages 4 and up
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Kingfisher (September 27, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0753467259
ISBN-13: 978-0753467251

The books were provided by the publisher for review purposes.

Stem Friday is at Simply Science today. Click through for links to more excellent STEM books.

If you would like to participate in STEM Friday in the future, go to the new STEM Friday blog for more information.

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Hip-Pocket Papa is a Giant Among Frogs

June 19, 2011 in Animals, Nonfiction, Picture book- nonfiction, Science, Science Books For Summer Reading by Roberta | 1 comment

Hip-Pocket Papa by Sandra Markle and illustrated by Alan Marks

Reading level:  Picture Book Ages 4-8

Summary:  The Australian hip pocket frog is like the kangaroo of the frog world, except the male carries the babies. This story follows the struggles of a tiny (the size of an adult thumbnail) male hip pocket frog as he carries his tadpoles in special pockets in his sides.  The tadpoles he carries develop into froglets using food from the original egg, a process that takes about a month.

Illustrations: Lush watercolors

Comments:  With a combination of Sandra Markle’s passion for animals and Alan Marks’ extraordinary watercolors, this story of an unusual frog is sure to capture a young reader’s interest. Sandra considers her work to be “faction,” fiction based on real life.

2011 Charlotte Zolotow Award Honor Book, as well as other awards.

Related activities:

  • Find an article of clothing with big pockets at the hips. Using marbles or small balls to represent tadpoles, see how many you can carry. Make a prediction, and then see how many actually fit. Or even better, find some plastic frogs to carry.
  • Make a poster of a typical frog’s life cycle (see From Tadpole to Frog, and here’s an example). Make another poster showing the hip-pocket frog’s life cycle.
  • Growing With Science has ideas for activities and more information at Summer Sounds: Frogs and Toads

Compatible fiction:  Frog and Toad are Friends by Arnold Lobel

Publisher:  Charlesbridge  (February 2010)

ISBN-10: 1570917086
ISBN-13: 978-1570917080

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