This addition to the Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science series offers a broad look at the way young animals are protected by their parents and by their own instincts. Fraser (One Giant Leap, 1999, etc.) organizes her text by types of care, safe homes, moving young from place to place, alerting to danger, fighting for defense, and clustering in large groups for protection, with the beginning and ending of the work focusing on the care of human babies and children. She includes many types of animals, from the tiny (snails) to the huge (elephants) and the charming (cats and kittens) to the not-so-charming (a head-on view of an alligator with her babies in her open mouth). Fraser’s illustrations in soft shades are rather sweet and old-fashioned, but many of her creatures are appealing, such as a mother monkey swinging through the jungle with her baby on her back or two baby raccoons peeking out of their tree-house home while their mother lures a bobcat away from her young. A large type-size and plenty of white space make this accessible to young readers who are reading at the fluency level. No new ground is broken here, but baby animals do have an eternal appeal to the young of the species that can read. (author’s note) (Nonfiction. 5-7)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-06-028803-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The lifecycle of the frog is succinctly summarized in this easy reader for children reading at the late first-grade level. In just one or two sentences per page, Vern details the amazing metamorphosis of the frog from egg to tadpole to adult, even injecting a little humor despite the tight word count. (“Watch out fly! Mmmm!) Large, full-color photographs on white backgrounds clearly illustrate each phase of development. Without any mention of laying eggs or fertilization, the title might be a bit misleading, but the development from black dot egg to full-grown frog is fascinating. A simple chart of the three main lifecycle steps is also included. Lifecycles are part of the standard curriculum in the early elementary grades, and this will be a welcome addition to school and public libraries, both for its informational value and as an easy reader. (Nonfiction/easy reader. 5-7)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-15-216304-2
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Green Light/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2001
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor
Having surveyed worms, spiders, flies, and head lice, Gravel continues her Disgusting Critters series with a quick hop through toad fact and fancy.
The facts are briefly presented in a hand-lettered–style typeface frequently interrupted by visually emphatic interjections (“TOXIN,” “PREY,” “EWWW!”). These are, as usual, paired to simply drawn cartoons with comments and punch lines in dialogue balloons. After casting glances at the common South American ancestor of frogs and toads, and at such exotic species as the Emei mustache toad (“Hey ladies!”), Gravel focuses on the common toad, Bufo bufo. Using feminine pronouns throughout, she describes diet and egg-laying, defense mechanisms, “warts,” development from tadpole to adult, and of course how toads shed and eat their skins. Noting that global warming and habitat destruction have rendered some species endangered or extinct, she closes with a plea and, harking back to those South American origins, an image of an outsized toad, arm in arm with a dark-skinned lad (in a track suit), waving goodbye: “Hasta la vista!”
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor . (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77049-667-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
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