habitats

Review: A Place for Turtles by Melissa Stewart

| Tasha

Layout 1

A Place for Turtles by Melissa Stewart, illustrated by Higgins Bond

Another strong title in the A Place for… series, this book introduces children to turtles and the role that people play in keeping them safe and their habitats viable.  Each page shows a different species of turtle in their specific habitat with the main part of the page explaining an overarching theme.  The inset on each page talks about scientific facts about the turtles, often including ways that humans have helped turtles survive.  The combination makes for an engaging way to present the information, giving readers the sense of digging deeper into the more specific information.  The emphasis here is on being a good steward of the environment and the way that humans can ensure the continued survival of turtles.

Stewart writes with an engaging tone, inviting young readers to explore the subject.  The insets on the pages are filled with dramatic examples, facts and scientific information.  Yet they never feel heavy thanks to the fine selection of intriguing information provided.  Bond’s illustrations reveal the lives of turtles, from the sea turtles escaping fishing nets to the lethal beauty of purple loosestrife.  He captures the beauty of both the habitat and the creatures.

A fine choice for library nonfiction collections, this is a great introduction to turtles and an inspiring call to action for children.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Peachtree Publishers.

Review: Underground by Denise Fleming

| Tasha

underground

Underground by Denise Fleming

Explore the wonders of what happens underground in a garden with this picture book from the Caldecott Honor medalist, Denise Fleming.  This book takes the joys of digging in the dirt one step farther, offering a simple poem that invites children to explore and then illustrations that show a cross section that reveals all of the action happening below the surface.  Roots grow, moles and chipmunks make tunnels, a turtle lays her eggs, worms are pulled by a robin. 

Fleming’s simple poetry makes this a great option for small toddlers, those same ones with the dirty hands from digging in the dirt.  She then takes her signature pulp-paper collage and brings life to the book.  The pulp paper offers a texture and richness that is specific to that medium.  It is bright, deeply colored, and has a dimension that is remarkable.  Here the use of it to build that rich underground world is ideal.  The illustrations are large enough to use with a group, but detailed enough that there is plenty to explore up close.

Turn to the back pages for more details about the animals shown in the illustrations.  Ideal to read in the garden with a pail and shovel nearby for immediate exploring.  It will also make a great addition for any spring-themed units or story times.  Appropriate for ages 1-3.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: A Strange Place to Call Home by Marilyn Singer

| Tasha

strange place to call home

A Strange Place to Call Home: the World’s Most Dangerous Habitats & the Animals That Call Them Home by Marilyn Singer, illustrated by Ed Young

Through evocative poetry, this book explores habitats that you would never guess something could even survive in.  But they do!  There are creatures who live in places with no water, no warmth, little food.  And those are the creatures that star in this book, each of them celebrated in verse.  There are penguins, mountain goats, and camels, which may be the animals that came to mind.  But Singer looks deeper than that and introduces unlikely creatures to readers, including petroleum flies that hatch in oil, ice worms that live in glaciers, and blind cave fish from Texas and Mexico.  She takes these creatures, known and unknown, and gives us a glimpse of them and their habitat in a variety of poetry forms.  Each page is a discovery of a new animal and a new type of poetry.

Singer excels at creating poetry that is artistic and has depth and yet offers young readers an approach to verse that is welcoming.  She writes at their level yet doesn’t ever play down to them.  Since some of the haikus and other forms are quite brief, it’s nice that she offers paragraphs of information at the end of the book on each creature.  At the very end of the book, she also speaks to the variety of poetic forms she has employed in the book.

Young’s illustrations add another layer of beauty into the book.  Through his layered paper art, he creates a red forest of flamingo legs, a swirl of desert sands, foaming rivers, and an urban landscape among many others.  His work embraces the diverse habitats, recreating the harshness and the often subtle richness of these unknown worlds.

A great pick for poetry units or units on habitats, this book offers a perfect blend of verse, science and art.  Appropriate for ages 7-10.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

Review: Zig and Wikki in the Cow by Nadja Spiegelman

| Tasha

zig and wikki in the cow

Zig and Wikki in the Cow by Nadja Spiegelman and Trade Loeffler

This is the second Zig and Wikki book, featuring two little aliens who find their way to Earth.  In this book, the two friends lose their spaceship when they return Zig’s pet fly its native habitat.  On the way, the two discover that flies eat poop, that dung beetles use it as well, and that cows have multiple stomachs.  It’s all a matter of learning things up close and personal, right down to being swallowed by a cow.  This humorous mashup of scientific fact, alien appeal, and comic format makes for an engaging read for young readers.

It is really the blend that works so well here.  The writing is light and funny, combined with scientific facts that are highlighted with photographs.  Readers learn about food cycles, ecology and habitats without even realizing it.  Add in the humorous poop factor and the graphic novel format, and this is one appealing package.

A graphic novel series that is a lot of fun and also informational, this second book is a winner, winner, cow dinner.  Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Candlewick Press.