Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - animal books! 7.28.21

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I always love sharing nonfiction picture books about animals because we know young readers love them!  I wonder if there has been a study about what part of the nonfiction library is checked out the most?  My very informal study shows its biographies and animal books.
Here are some new animal books I've come across!


Masters of Disguise by Marc Martin
Masters of Disguise: Camouflaging Creatures and Magnificent Mimics
by Marc Martin
Featuring hide and seek pages that will keep readers looking and looking again for the camouflaged animals, this will be a fun picture book to have in your library.  While there are the camouflage hide and seek page, the layout before it features a layout of the animal giving some information about how it hides itself, but most of the information is about the animal (shelter, what it eats, where to find it, interesting facts, etc).  I like the global map on the endpages that shows where you can find the animal.

13 Ways to Eat a Fly
13 Ways to Eat a Fly
written by Sue Heavenrich
illustrated by David Clark
I've heard good things about this book and it did not disappoint!  It literally details 13 ways a fly may be eaten by a different creature.  It's equal parts fascinating and disgusting, which means it will be gobbled up (pun intended, lol) by readers!
And do not miss reading the backmatter.  It's hilarious.

Butterflies Are Pretty ... Gross! by Rosemary Mosco
Butterflies Are Pretty Gross
written by Rosemary Mosco
illustrated by Jacob Souva
Another book that is meant to give a few "ewwws" while reading it!  Kids will enjoy finding out the deeper, darker secrets of butterflies and their earlier counterpart, caterpillars.

Fourteen Monkeys by Melissa Stewart
Fourteen Monkeys: A Rain Forest Rhyme
written by Melissa Stewart
illustrated by Steve Jenkins
I love when this creator team work together!  And a book that can be read multiple ways.  Each layout has a rhyming verse and then additional information in smaller font.  I read the book straight through, just focusing on the rhyming part.  I learned about the fourteen monkeys that way and got familiar with their names.  Then I went back and read the rhyming verse and the information on a page.  This way the names weren't completely new to me and I was ready to add new information!  I also loved that the illustrator included a rainforest tree on each page with an orange circle on it to show what layer of the tree it resides in.  
And this is a Stewart-Jenkins collaboration which means you're going to get extensive backmatter that is loaded with information and infographics!


I love reading about elephants!  They are magnificent creatures.  Here are two new books about these animals.

If You Were an Elephant by Leslie Staub
If You Were an Elephant
written by Leslie Staub
illustrated by Richard Jones
This book's narrative style of comparing things you would do as an elephant is an interesting choice.  It makes it more narrative in structure, but misses opportunities to expand upon the information it is sharing.  There is additional info in the end notes, but that's making the assumption everyone reads backmatter (although they should).

The Elephants Come Home by Kim Tomsic
The Elephants Come Home: A True Story of Seven Elephants, Two People, and One Extraordinary Friendship
written by Kim Tomsic
illustrated by Hadley Hooper
This is a fascinating story and I love the the friendship between the elephants and Lawrence!  Lawrence and his wife, Françoise, are owners of Thula Thula, a wildlife sanctuary.  This is the story of how elephants came to be a part of the sanctuary.  These elephants came with an unhappy background and caused trouble.  But with Lawrence's calm and trusting demeanor, the elephants eventually became more trusting of him and their surroundings.  Love the illustrations and use of color by Hadley Hooper.



1 comment:

  1. These all look like fascinating reads! If You Were An Elephant looks lovely, and I'm planning to read 13 Ways to Eat a Fly because its author, Sue Heavenrich, is a book blogger whose posts I really enjoy! Thanks so much for the great post!

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