BABY POLAR BEARS’ SNOW-DAY

The Photo Adventure series offers readers a look at the lives of three familiar baby animals through some amazing close-up photography. Young children follow twin polar bear cubs, a baby penguin (Baby Penguin Slips and Slides; ISBN: 978-1-60115-285-5; paper ISBN: 978-1-60115-286-2) and a baby elephant (Baby Elephant's Fun in the Sun; ISBN: 978-1-60115-283-1; paper ISBN: 978-1-60115-284-8) through a typical day of activity—some eating and bathing, but mostly playtime with friends (including hide-and-seek and chase). Frequent “Fact Stops” offer a sentence or two of additional information about the animals. A mix of fonts encourages adults and children to read this together, with the youngest child’s part being single words that can be deduced from context and picture clues. A “Look back” section tests readers’ comprehension with three questions and encourages readers to see connections between their lives and the lives of the animals. In his flirtation with anthropomorphism, Teitelbaum limits his audience to the youngest children, and even they could have benefited from learning that animals’ play is actually socialization, communication and strength and coordination building (just like kids). Cutesy, but with untapped potential. (Informational early reader. 2-6)