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LIKE NO OTHER

Name: LIKE NO OTHER
Author: Sneed B. Collard III
ISBN: 9781662670077

EARTH’S COOLEST ONE-OF-A-KIND CREATURES

by Sneed B. Collard III ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 18, 2024

A striking book that celebrates the astonishing diversity of the animal world.

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Every animal may be unique, but some species are truly one of a kind.

A baker’s dozen of very different creatures star in this visually impressive and informative book. Each has no close relatives in the animal kingdom and is distinguished by unusual traits or behaviors, clearly and succinctly described here. Australia’s platypuses split off from other mammals 166 million years ago and are among the only mammals to lay eggs. The tuatara, found in New Zealand, is part of an order of reptiles that evolved 200 million years ago, when Earth consisted of the supercontinent Pangea. The aye-aye, a type of lemur that’s native to Madagascar, has incisors that never stop growing, while the leatherback sea turtle, which lives in oceans all over the world, is far larger than other turtles and can swim up to a mile below the surface. Finally, there’s Homo sapiens, distinguished by our big brains and capacity for language. (Chimps, orangutans, and gorillas, our closest living relatives, belong to a different scientific family.) Each entry also lists the creature’s height, weight, and lifespan and features a large, stunningly detailed, close-up color illustration. Excellent backmatter offers would-be scientists more information on classifying animals, along with a glossary, relevant websites, notes on researching and taxonomy, and a map with the 13 animals and more one of a kinds.

A striking book that celebrates the astonishing diversity of the animal world. (Informational picture book. 6-9)

Pub Date: June 18, 2024

ISBN: 9781662670077

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Kane Press

Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
DEFENDING NATURE
by Sneed B. Collard III

- BOOK REVIEW
BORDER CROSSINGS
by Sneed B. Collard III ; illustrated by Howard Gray

- BOOK REVIEW
BEAVER AND OTTER GET ALONG...SORT OF
by Sneed B. Collard III ; illustrated by Meg Sodano

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BUTT OR FACE?

by Kari Lavelle ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2023

A gleeful game for budding naturalists.

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Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.

In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 11, 2023

ISBN: 9781728271170

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore

Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
ODE TO GRAPEFRUIT
by Kari Lavelle ; illustrated by Bryan Collier

- BOOK REVIEW
WE MOVE THE WORLD
by Kari Lavelle ; illustrated by Nabi H. Ali

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WHAT IF YOU HAD AN ANIMAL HOME!?

From the What if You Had . . .? series

by Sandra Markle ; illustrated by Howard McWilliam ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2024

Another playful imagination-stretcher.

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Markle invites children to picture themselves living in the homes of 11 wild animals.

As in previous entries in the series, McWilliam’s illustrations of a diverse cast of young people fancifully imitating wild creatures are paired with close-up photos of each animal in a like natural setting. The left side of one spread includes a photo of a black bear nestling in a cozy winter den, while the right side features an image of a human one cuddled up with a bear. On another spread, opposite a photo of honeybees tending to newly hatched offspring, a human “larva” lounges at ease in a honeycomb cell, game controller in hand, as insect attendants dish up goodies. A child with an eye patch reclines on an orb weaver spider’s web, while another wearing a head scarf constructs a castle in a subterranean chamber with help from mound-building termites. Markle adds simple remarks about each type of den, nest, or burrow and basic facts about its typical residents, then closes with a reassuring reminder to readers that they don’t have to live as animals do, because they will “always live where people live.” A select gallery of traditional homes, from igloo and yurt to mudhif, follows a final view of the young cast waving from a variety of differently styled windows.

Another playful imagination-stretcher. (Informational picture book. 6-8)