WHO'S THAT JUMPING?

A catalog of animal movements and other nature facts for the youngest zoologists.

Clear, eye-catching photos on solid, bright backgrounds show various critters jumping, hopping, running and galloping. The left-hand page depicts the creature moving through its habitat. The rabbit, for example, bounds through a field as the text asks, “Who’s that hopping?” The answer, printed on a band of color, is the movement restated, with the placement and size of type mimicking the action itself. The facing page presents the animal at rest so youngsters can get a clear look. Two simple facts about the animal are shared: “I am a cheetah. I have lots of spots and very sharp claws.” One body part of each creature is labeled with a dotted line, which may encourage adults to discuss these photos with their little ones. The companion book, Who’s that...Roaring? And Other Animal Sounds, follows an identical format, but here, the noises of domestic and wild animals are at play. While the featured creatures in both books are pretty standard animal fare (horse, lion, sheep and elephant), there are some new faces here (puma, grasshopper and parrot) and some interesting new vocabulary words (antenna, whiskers and mane). While a cleaner page layout might have served both offerings better, nonfiction is hard to come by for young children.

This accessible title rightly focuses on what is of interest to little ones.