Animals

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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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A Butterfly Is Patient: The Book Is Spectacular

June 13, 2011 in Animals, Nonfiction, Picture book- nonfiction, Science Books For Summer Reading by Roberta | 5 comments

At one point in the new book A Butterfly Is Patient by Dianna Hutts Aston and illustrated by Sylvia Long, the author writes, “A butterfly is spectacular!” As you read it you immediately want to echo, “This book is spectacular, too!”

The team of Aston and Long have already written and illustrated two award-winning books, An Egg is Quiet and A Seed is Sleepy. This new addition is even better, if that is possible. How do you top perfection? They found a way.

Start with the front endpapers, a collection of vibrant caterpillars with names like “Moonlight Jewel” and “Hieroglyphic Flat.” Skip to the back endpapers and you will find equally vibrant illustrations of the butterflies that come from those caterpillars. You can spend hours studying the endpapers alone.

Aston packs some hard science into the text, using words such as pollination, camouflage, predator, and migration. She has obviously done her research. It is so lyrically written, however, that learning is beautiful. Each and every page is a delight.

Looking for a gift book? As well as being a high quality, enjoyable, and informative picture book for children, the glorious art and design of A Butterfly Is Patient make it a potential coffee table art book for adults (albeit a thin one). Yes, it is that good. This book is a must for libraries, for children interested in science, and anyone interested in nature.

Don’t be as patient as a butterfly, go check out a copy for yourself today! I’d love to hear what you think of it.

See another review by Amanda at A Patchwork of Books

Related butterfly science activities at Growing with Science

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: Chronicle Books (May 18, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0811864790
ISBN-13: 978-0811864794

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nonfictionmonday

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by the new Nonfiction Monday blog to see who is hosting each week.

This week’s post is at Books Together.

This book was provided for review purposes.

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Insect Detective

May 19, 2011 in Animals, Nonfiction, Science, Science Books For Summer Reading by Roberta | 2 comments

Insect Detective by Steve Voake and illustrated by Charlotte Voake

Reading level: Picture book (Ages 4-8)

Summary: “Become an insect detective and find out what the insects around you are up to. ” Children are encouraged to listen for a wasp scraping wood from a fence post, to follow ants, to lift a stone, to look closely at a leaf that is hiding a moth, and to count legs.

Illustrations: Pen-and-watercolor

Comments:  A lovely book! The text is poetic and the descriptions of different kinds of insects are enchanting. The illustrations are delicate. Underlying the beauty, however, is a solid foundation of factual information and the gentle message to learn to appreciate the wonders of nature around you.

Related activities:

Compatible fiction: Diary of a Fly by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Harry Bliss

Publisher:  Candlewick (February 23, 2010)

ISBN-10: 9780763644475
ISBN-13: 978-0763644475

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Next title to be reviewed: Bat Researcher by Michael Burgan

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What to Expect When You’re Expecting Larvae: A Guide for Insect Parents

May 10, 2011 in Animals, Nonfiction by Roberta | 2 comments

What to Expect When You’re Expecting Larvae: A Guide for Insect Parents by Bridget Heos and illustrated by Stéphane Jorisch, is a fun take off on the What to Expect When You Are Expecting books for adults. With a humorous question and answer format, children can find out about the details of insect life cycles.

Author Bridget Heos seems to have a definite passion about insects, which shines through. The text is interesting and informative, as well as amusing.

The lighthearted illustrations by award-winning illustrator Stéphane Jorisch are bright, colorful and enchanting. They are, at times, silly in a good way.

Though I don’t want to detract from all the wonderful positives of this book, I do want to be perfectly honest that you might find a few flaws. For example, -snip- on page 16, the illustration implies that adult dragonflies eat mosquito larvae. Actually the mosquito larvae (wigglers) live in the water and are eaten by young of dragonflies (nymphs or naiads). The adult dragonflies (sometimes referred to as mosquito hawks) eat the adult mosquitoes flying in the air. Not a big deal.

On page 27, it says “A moth pupa is a cocoon.” Sorry, a cocoon is technically the silky bag wrapping around a moth pupa. It should read, “A moth pupa is often found in a cocoon.”

Don’t be put off by these small points, however. The author has packed in facts that aren’t often found in children’s books about insects. It has a child-appropriate level of the “yucky” factor, too. Children are sure to find What to Expect When You’re Expecting Larvae: A Guide for Insect Parents amusing and enlightening.

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Publisher: Lerner’s Millbrook Press (March 2011)
ISBN-10: 9780761358589
ISBN-13: 978-0761358589

An electronic copy of the book was provided for review purposes via NetGalley.

Be sure to look for more information about children’s books at today’s Book Talk Tuesday.

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The Voyage of Turtle Rex

April 25, 2011 in Animals, Nonfiction, Nonfiction Monday Review, Picture book- nonfiction, Poetry by Roberta | 5 comments

Kurt Cyrus has done it again with his new book, The Voyage of Turtle Rex. Cyrus travels on the border between fiction and nonfiction successfully with the dramatic story of a giant sea turtle’s adventures growing up in ancient seas.

If you are familiar with Cyrus’ previous award-winning book, Tadpole Rex, you already know about his breathtaking, vibrant illustrations and tightly-crafted rhyme.  Although a computer screen does not do them justice, Cyrus has examples of some of the illustrations at his website. How does Cyrus create the stark black lines of varying width that give such depth to each page? He uses a scratchboard technique and adds details like bubbles and a crust of barnacles to make the giant sea turtle come alive.

Not only has Cyrus done his research about the creature, Archelon, itself (he even includes the fact the turtles may sleep under the mud for long periods), but also he obviously spent the time to craft the story to perfection. Showing the contrast in size between the tiny baby turtles on the beach in the beginning, to the adult turtles laying eggs on the same beach at the end, by including the same local dinosaurs for scale in both scenes is pure genius. He also brings the story neatly to present day with a few perfectly-chosen words.

The Voyage of Turtle Rex is a must-have book for your shelf, because it can be used in so many ways. You could pull it out for a poetry unit, a science unit, and for any reader interested in dinosaurs. This book sure to thrill and entrall dinosaur-loving children of all ages.

See an interview with Kurt Cyrus at Miss Rumphius Effect

Growing with Science has related science activities

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Publisher: Harcourt Children’s Books (April 4, 2011)
ISBN-10: 9780547429243
ISBN-13: 978-0547429243

Book was supplied for review purposes.

nonfictionmonday

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by the new Nonfiction Monday blog to see who is hosting each week.

This week’s post is at Writing Nonfiction for Children.

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