Customer Reviews

Chameleons Are Cool: Read and Wonder

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In our elementary school library, not many non-fiction books make it as successful read-aloud books. This is one of them.

Primary age students beg for this title. Both the brightly colored, humorous illistrations and the light conversational tone of the text grab the interest of the children. I'm continually amazed at how many facts about chameleons are slipped into this cheerful picture book, like "they change color when they're angry, or when they're too cold or too hot, or when they're sick."

Many pages have additional facts worked into the illustrations, such as "Chameleons usually get sick and die of kept as pets."

This book is to be recommended not only as a great read-aloud, but as a good source of information for students doing a report on chameleons. It even has a helpful index.

Did you know that there are around 120 different kinds of chameleons, that their eyes move separately and their very long tongues have a sticky tip at the end? Did you know that chameleons are lizards, that some are the size of small cats and that they change colors when they're angry or too hot or cold or sick...but not to match their surroundings? Martin Jenkins loves chameleons and his enthusiasm is infectious. He's authored a marvelous book full of fun and interesting facts that's perfect for all young nature lovers. His enjoyable, conversational text is complimented by Sue Shields colorful, expressive artwork, that will mesmerize youngsters with its close-up attention to detail. Written for kids 5-9, Chameleons are Cool is a winner!

My son really enjoys this book. I find it to contain some great facts about chameleons, but yet it isn't a really long book. Just right for boys age 5-8 who may have a shorter attention span, but who like to learn about animals.

This book had lots of good facts about chameleons. The pictures were very colorful. Many of the pictures made me laugh! This book had lots of facts about chameleons that I did not know! I think every teacher should share this book with their class just like my teacher did!

Colorfully drawn pictures and lively text show and tell lots of interesting facts about Chameleons. You'll think they're cool, too, after reading this book ! It is charming and informative and would be great for pre-readers as a read-to-me book or for elementaary school age.

This is an excellent mentor text to use when teaching students to write. My 3rd grade students love this book.

Several years ago Chameleons Are Cool was recommended in an art teacher blog, and because I love to share things with my students that inspire me, I got it from our local library. My primary age students in an elementary school where I teach art were SO inspired by this book and the illustrations. We enjoyed finding Madagascar on a world map and learning about the environment in which these creatures live. The "giant" sizes, colors and most of all the textures that are on these lizards bodies---they just couldn't wait to try their hand at drawing/painting a chameleon of their own and be expressive with the tempera paints and large brushes. And their results are wonderful. I heartily recommend this book for any elementary age child for whole brain learning (and of course GREAT FUN!) that can inspire creative activities like art, writing, drama, etc. Enjoy.

This is a darling book. We've used it in our Elementary school art class and the kids are loving making their own chameleons from the examples in the book.

Brilliant illustrations, fun facts, fascinating for even the most reluctant readers. Chameleons Are Cool is a "must have" for elementary classroom libraries or the collection of any child interested in animals. This book corrects the common misconception that chameleons change color to camouflage themselves. Many other brief but fun facts are included which makes this selection a great non-fiction source for elementary grade researchers.

It was actually my nephew (who is currently 6) who picked out this book. He brought it home from library day at his school, and he was so excited about it that he had taken it out of his backpack to look at on the bus ride home because he just couldn't wait to get home and read it. I was impressed by how much a book about a creature he's never encountered before had grabbed his interest, so once we got home we sat right down to read it together.

It's very good. It's one of those great nonfiction books for kids where you really feel like the author is excited about the subject and happy to be sharing his interest with you. The text is well targeted for kids in early elementary school, and the illustrations do a great job of both demonstrating what the text is saying and being interesting enough to hold a child's attention. There are also scattered notes in smaller text adding additional details about chameleons.

The book contains a brief index as well. I'm not sure that it's really so long that it wouldn't be just as easy to flip through and find the part you want to refer to on your own, but a short index like that isn't a bad way to introduce children to the concept of an index and how they work.

I definitely recommend it for libraries and families who think their kids would have any interest at all in this unusual creature.