Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - 2.10.21

I always enjoy finding new nonfiction books about the animal kingdom.  They are favorites of young readers and several grade levels study animal adaptations and habitats, which makes these perfect curriculum titles too!  Here are some more recent titles.

Eye by Eye: Comparing How Animals See

written by Sara Levine

illustrated by T.S Spookytooth

I love the books this author/illustrator pair have published and this one will be up there with my favorites.

For readers who enjoy Sandra Markle's "What If" series, but are looking for a little less text, this book is perfect.  Featuring human children with animals' eyes, Levine does a great job explaining the differences in eyes and the purpose of different eyes, readers will have a whole new understanding of animals and the way they see.  

Crossings: Extraordinary Structures for Extraordinary Animals

written by Katy S. Duffield

illustrated by Mike Orodán

I can see why this one was getting a lot of attention at the end of last year.  It is a fascinating read, and one that I can see inspiring some maker ideas!  As more and more construction goes up, humans continue to encroach upon animal territory.  While that in itself is an issue, at least some animal-minded people are helping engineers think of ways to make sure animals can continue to live as safely as possible in that environment.  With roads crossing through and cutting up animal passages, this book details some of the structures that have been put in place to make sure animals can safely get from one side of the road to another.

The Beak Book

by Robin Page

I'm always excited to see a new book by Robin Page.  She chooses the best text structures for her nonfiction writing that really makes it easy to understand her stories.  In her latest book, Page focuses specifically on the beaks of birds and the purpose for their shape and what they use it for.

Put this in your animal adaptations pile!

Cougar Crossing: How Hollywood's Celebrity Cougar Helped Build a Bridge for City Wildlife

written by Meeg PIncus

illustrated by Alexander Vidal

This is a perfect companion to Crossings.  P-22 is a cougar that was living in the Santa Monica Mountains, a national park in CA.  Struggling to find territory, P-22 struck out on his own - however, this meant going through Hollywood and crossing 27 lanes of busy traffic!  P-22 managed to do that, but then was in an even smaller territory than before.  While trying to find food and shelter, P-22 did things that caught the attention of the public including sleeping in a crawl space of a house and breaking into a zoo and eating a koala!  People learned of his plight and wanted to help.  Fundraisers helped raise funds that will go for a construction of an animal overpass that will help other animals find places to live.

The book is told not only by the narrator, but also by two animal experts that followed P-22's journey and helped him along the way.

Glad to have more animal stories for our readers!