From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2. Soft, realistic, full-page watercolors are paired with minimal text in this introduction to mammals. Commonalities (hair, milk) are presented along with a variety of behavioral and physical characteristics (movement, diet). The paintings are presented in an Audubon-like format, as individual plates with identification labels, displaying each animal in its habitat. Many of the subjects could be encountered on a quiet walk through the woods; others live in distant places. The paintings draw viewers in with their warmth, charm, and accuracy and the large type, surrounded by white space, makes this an unusually attractive easy reader. An afterword offers small, color reproductions of each plate with a bit more information. More sophisticated than Jim Arnosky's Crinkleroot's 25 Mammals Every Child Should Know (Bradbury, 1994), this is ideal for storytimes and will balance well with Allan Fowler's It Could Still Be a Mammal (Children's Press, 1990).?Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System, FL
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Gr 1-2, younger for reading aloud. From the author and illustrator of
About Birds (1991), this volume introduces mammals to young children. Each spread has a full-color painting of one or several animals and a facing page that is white except for a few words of text and an identification of the animal illustrated. For instance, the words
Mammals eat meat appear opposite an illustration of a bobcat carrying its prey. Apart from the illustrator's irritating practice of signing each picture, the artwork shows a sensitivity to young children's interests as well as to the variety of North American mammals. Simple yet varied in composition, the paintings are realistic in depicting the colors and forms of the wildlife as well as the animals' activities. Preschool and primary-grade teachers will find this an attractive choice for units on mammals.
Carolyn Phelan
