vision

Review: Eye Spy: Wild Ways Animals See the World by Guillaume Duprat

| Tasha

Eye Spy Wild Ways Animals See the World by Guillaume Duprat

Eye Spy: Wild Ways Animals See the World by Guillaume Duprat (9781999802851)

This science-focused nonfiction picture book takes a close look at animal eyes and the ways that different animals see the world. Incorporating flaps to lift, readers can lift the eyes of the animals on the pages to see the way that they do. What does it look like to only see things clearly that are a few inches away? How does it change things to only be able to see three colors instead of five? What happens when a bird can see all the way around in a 360 view? How do insect eyes work to form a full image of what they are perceiving? All of these questions and more are answered in this engaging nonfiction picture book.

Beautifully designed, this picture book offers an engaging format combined with fascinating facts. While reading about how other creatures see the world is interesting, being able to actually see what that means in a visual way is incredible. The book includes mammals like cats, dogs, horses, and cows and then moves on to other types of animals like reptiles, insects, and birds. Each page turn brings a new animal with a new flap to peek behind.

The art here is vital. The flaps to lift offer a hidden view into the way these animals perceive the world. The art invites us to look right at the creature and then look at the world through their eyes. It is beautifully done, with all of the animals looking at the same scene so that readers can see the differences clearly.

An eye-opening look at the science of vision and animal eyes. Appropriate for ages 5-9.

Reviewed from copy provided by What on Earth Publishing.

Pirate of Kindergarten

| Tasha

9781416950240

The Pirate of Kindergarten by George Ella Lyon, illustrated by Lynne Avril

Ginny could see two of everything.  She loved Reading Circle at school, but it was hard to get there because she saw double the number of chairs, so she always ran into some of them.  To read her own book, Ginny had to put her nose down close to the pages and even then she saw two of each of the words.  She could tighten her brain to remember to read each word only once, but even then she quietly said them a second time to herself.  Squinting at the pages helped, but her teacher asked her not to.  She had trouble cutting with scissors and ended up with a rabbit with three ears.  Everything changed the day that vision screening happened at school.  When it was Ginny’s turn to read from the chart, she read each letter twice.  The nurse there told her that she had to go to a doctor to see what could be done for her double vision.  And that’s how with an eye patch, Ginny became a pirate at Kindergarten. 

Lyon’s writing has a natural ease about it combined with a skillful pacing.  Readers are shown the way that Ginny sees the world through tangible examples that young children will understand and relate to easily.  The amount of text per page is just right for sharing with preschoolers and Kindergarteners.  Avril’s illustrations are bright and vibrant.  The pages filled with double vision allow readers to see through Ginny’s eyes.  The confusion of the jumble of chairs, the struggle with lines and scissors, and the doubling of words when she reads.  These are all demonstrated directly on the page. 

A cheery view of a child who sees the world differently than most, this book is appropriate for ages 4-6. 

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

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