ANIMAL TRACKS

Not wild in the sense of ferocious, these simple read-aloud poems on animals and nature feature oddities and clever puns, i.e., titles such as “Ducks Quack Me Up,” “I Wouldn’t Pet on It,” and “A Batch of Beasts.” Playfully illustrated with expressive watercolors, there are 32 poems like “Hey, big old frog / On that small log. / Now don’t you cough / Or you’ll fall off. / You coughed! Oh no! / I toad you so.” The nature elements are expressed at a child’s curiosity level and should encourage questions. From alligator to worm, the one-page index of 108 entries isn’t listed by poem titles, but by all of the animals mentioned, making it much more useful for teachers and adults. Lively and fun as promised, as the blurb says, “EWE will love this book—I’m not LION.” (Poetry. 4-7)