Customer Reviews

Little Skink's Tail

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The skink does not often get its due. Here you have an animal that can remove its own tail and grow it back again, yet how much cred does it get in the children's book world? Hardly any. You're far more likely to find picture books about newts and salamanders than your average everyday skink. I wouldn't call myself a Skink Advocate, but the minute I saw the title and cover of Janet Halfmann's newest book I felt inclined to see and learn more. I see very few books from small presses like Sylvan Dell, and fewer still that tickle my fancy. "Little Skink's Tail" is one of the few, and it's a lovely little delight of a book.

Little Skink was having a perfectly nice day right up until the moment a hungry crow decided to make a quick snack of her. Snapping off her own bright blue tail (as skinks tend to do in these situations) she escapes beneath a log as the crow dives for the still wiggling ex-extremity. The next day Little Skink feels a bit bereft without her tail. Looking at some of the other animals in the forest, she contemplates the advantages of growing one tail over another. Bunnies have nice tails but they're awful puffy. Squirrels would be fun, but there's a bushiness there to be reckoned with. Systematically Little Skink rules out the advantages of having the tails of deer, skunks, porcupines, owls, and turtles, each time imagining the tails on her own body. A couple days later, though, the perfect tail grows back. One of the bright bottle blue persuasion. Factual back matter round out the book by teaching kids about animal tracks, navigation, and the evolutionary advantages of one tail over another.

The book could have gone wrong a variety of different ways. If Halfmann had made it too cute and filled it with adorable talking woodland creatures, for example. Or she could have made the skink actually grow these tails rather than just imagine what they'd look like. Yet Halfmann is pretty adept at keeping strictly to the factual elements of her story. If the book is cute, that's only because it never trips into preciousness. The narrative is straightforward as well. Personally, I might have suggested turning the various tails Little Skink tries out into bright blue versions, but I can see why the decision was made to keep them their original colors. A child reading this book might have a hard time connecting a bright blue deer tail to its subtler, browner equivalent, after all.

Laurie Allen Klein's endearing skink is probably the real reason I wanted to get my hands on the book, though. A clever idea will get you only so far in the picture book market. If your illustrator is sub-par then it really doesn't matter how wonderful your words are. No one is going to purchase a picture book if they think it looks unprofessional. Fortunately for everyone Klein's illustrations are a nice mix of cute and accurate. She plays with angles and perspective enough to keep the eye constantly in motion. The ratio of animal sizes in this book is consistent as well.

According to the bookflap of this title, Sherry Crawley, Director of Education for the School and Family Programs at Zoo Atlanta, went through this book to verify the accuracy of the information. Certainly the back matter is fun and nicely educational. Still, though this section is useful in many ways, I would have appreciated more time spent discussing skinks and their amazing regeneration abilities. Just a quick sentence or two about the critters would have been sufficient to my needs. All that aside, "Little Skink's Tail" is a nice example of a simple idea brought to life in a picture book format with plenty of factual matter to complement the fiction. An ideal purchase for those parts of the country overridden with skinks, and those parts that know nothing about them and would benefit from a well-written story. A book worth noticing.

A hungry crow tries to make Little Skink's Tail a meal. Little Skink tricks the crow by dropping her beautiful tail and hiding. Little Skink then imagines what she would look like with various types of tails of other animals in her woodland habitat. After considering how the other tails would look on her body, Little Skink discovers that her tail has grown back just the right size for a Skink!

The students in my fifth grade class had been creating their own story plots about an animal they had been researching. They included information about predator/prey relationships, habitats, ecosystems, behaviors and food needs. The students had done much thinking about a problem that their story's main character would need to confront.

When I read them, Little Skink's Tail by Janet Halfmann, the students were delighted. They recognized the plot
and enjoyed how the Little Skink imagined wearing other tails. The students thought it was "neat" how Janet Halfmann took factual science information and developed it into a "tale" touched by a bit of magic and wit.

Even though the students realized that the audience was most likely intended for 5-7 year olds, they felt the plot was interesting enough for older students. The students enjoyed the illustrations by Laurie Klein that extended their understanding of habitats and animal interrelationships. They also enjoyed the activities at the end and wanted to try them out.

As a teacher, I appreciated the clarity of the plot line, the accuracy of the information, and the simplicity of the theme. The story does not overwhelm the students with too much information, but highlights how a plot can be developed around one significant event.

Oh no, Little Skink's Tail is stolen! She is scared and sad. Can she get another tail? What kind of tail would she like next? A skunk's tail, a turtle's tail, an owl's tail? No tails she sees in the forest seems just right. Luckily, she is a lizard. Do you know how lizards get their tails? This book will tell you.
Author Janet Halfmann and Illustrator Laurie Allen Klein do a splendid job in telling this tale and in painting not only Little Skink, but also all of the forest and its inhabitants. Therefore, the young reader will learn all about a whole woodland habitat. One matching activity in the back goes further in explaining the uses of many other animal's tails, for instance a rabbit raises its cottontail to tell other rabbits about trouble ahead. This book is a terrific addition to a home or classroom, ages 5 - 8. Just think how wonderful a forest or lizard unit would be in a classroom. One can just see a diorama created by children based on the book!

As she snacks on ants one day, a happy little skink (lizard) loses her tail to a hungry crow in Little Skink's Tail by Janet Halfmann. Saddened by the loss of her tail, she spends time imagining what she would look like with the tails of various other woodland creatures. While Little Skink is contemplating the reasons why the tails of other animals would not fit her body, her own tail is growing back, to her delight.

The story is a pleasure to read to young children aged four to eight. Laurie Allen Klein's illustrations are adorable and engaging. Imagine a skink with a squirrel's tail, and the laughter that will erupt from young readers at the sight. Klein is certainly a talented artist in her ability to make a lizard look incredibly cute and cuddly, even in the eyes of a squeamish mother. She also illustrated If a Dolphin Were a Fish for Sylvan Dell Publishing.

In addition, Halfmann's storyline is educational and informative. As readers become familiar with the character of Little Skink, they are also becoming familiar with a defense mechanism of many lizards. Halfmann came up with the idea for Little Skink's Tail while completing research for another book and writing an article for Ranger Rick magazine.

The story closes with a footprint map for use in identifying the tracks of the various animals Little Skink encounters. There is a matching activity explaining the functions each animal's tale performs. Both exercises can be downloaded and printed from the publisher's website. As always, Sylvan Dell Publishing has produced another quality teaching tool.

Armchair Interviews says: Sylvan Dell holds a special place on the bookshelf in this reviewer's home.

This charming story is about Little Skink, a lizard, who's enjoying a nice peaceful day...that is, until she goes hunting for ants for breakfast. A hungry crow goes after Little Skink's distinctive blue tail. In order to save herself from becoming Crow's breakfast, Little Skink snaps off her blue tail. Her tail continues to wiggle, keeping Crow's attention. Little Skink uses the opportunity to save herself by hiding under a log.

Little Skink is sad about losing her tail, so she starts to wonder what it would be like to have a tail like one of the other animals in the forest. Every day, she imagines she has the tail of whatever animal walks by her. No tail is suitable, and she's sure she'll never find "just the right tail" to replace her lost bright blue one. The story ends on an upbeat note, sure to please the reader.

Author Janet Halfmann's precise text makes this a fun story to read. Coupled with the outstanding illustrations by Laurie Allen Klein, the reader is provided with excellent visuals to see Little Skink in the assorted tails she sports while trying to find "just the right tail". This scientifically accurate book has a "For Creative Minds" section at the end of the story with a unique Footprint Map to help children recognize the distinct footprints of several animals, as well as a "Tail Matching" Activity to help the reader remember and correctly identify the tails of the animals portrayed in this story. As always, Sylvan Dell Publishing has printed a quality, beautiful, fun, and scientifically accurate book for children. Author Janet Halfmann's text urges children to think in a logical, creative way; add in the colorful, crisp images created by Laurie Allen Klein, this book is a sure bet to stimulate the minds of animal-loving children everywhere!
In addition, readers can find cross-curricular "Teaching Activities," an audio reading, child-friendly "Learning Links," and comprehension and math quizzes for free at www.SylvanDellPublishing.com

By: Gayle Jacobson-Huset
Assistant Editor
Stories for Children Magazine

Like Halfmann's other books, Little Skink's Tale presents information about the natural world in creative ways. In this book a skink who looses his tail imagines what it would be like to have the tails of various other creatures until his own grows back. The book contains educational material at the end that could be used by teachers or parents to help kids learn more about nature and the illustrations capture the natural beauty of the scenes where it takes place.

Little Skink's Tail By Janet Halfmann, illustrated by Laurie Allen Klein, is a fun book about a little skink, or lizard, who loses her tail to a hungry crow. Little Skink wonders what it would be like to have a different kind of tail. She imagines she has the tail of the other animals she meets. This results in a series of silly images of a skink with the tail of another animal.

The story of Little Skink is a visual and audio delight. The descriptive words Janet Halfmann chooses give the reader fun words to roll off their tongue like puffy-fluffy, wiggly waggly, flick and fluff, and stickily-prickily. I imagine the children listening to this story will have as much fun with the words and images as the reader does.

The artwork by Laurie Allen Kein is essential to the story's enjoyment. Little Skink's Tail is exquisitely illustrated. The animals come alive, displayed in their natural beauty and appeal. This is a story with heart, personality, and fun on every page. It is available in English and Spanish with audio. The audio book is as much a treat for the ears as the book is for the eyes

The twin who is more into lizards than the other chose this as one of her library books this past Sat. and both liked it so much we are going to buy a copy.

First off, both girls (4.5 years old) giggled as the skink "tried on" each different tail, so they enjoyed that and liked finding out that there is an animal that can drop its tail and grow a new one.

But a big bonus to this book for us was the monarch. We raised monarch butterflies this past summer and the girls are totally into them, and the same lizard loving twin also loves "secret" things and eye spy things. On the second page you first see a monarch caterpillar walking on a branch, a couple pages after that you see if making a "J", and each couple of pages you see it in a different stage until the last page it is a butterfly on a flower. The girls loved looking on each page for the next incarnation of the monarch.

Another fun surprise in this book came at the end, there were two educational activities. One was a matching (pictures of tails to the write up on the animal it belongs to and why it has that kind of tail) and a mapping exercise, something the girls had never done before and really enjoyed and learned from.

A definite recommend!

Gave Little Skink's Tail to our grandsons. They loved it and had fun thinking up more tails Little Skink could try out. It's a fun read and educational, too.

This is truly a delightful book after having a chance to read it to my girls. The illustrations are bright and colorful and the story is fun yet educational. Little Skink takes his little audience on a journey among many different animals to find a new tail. The way Ms. Halfmann presents Little Skink's path is interesting, playful and fun. I like how Ms. Halfmann utilizes the story to teach children about animals and the various tails each one has. Seeing how Little Skink and his tail are involved in this tale of pursuit is sure to captivate any child. Laurie Allen Klein's illustrations really piece the whole story together. I think it will also increase imagination as the children might try to imagine themselves with a different tail just as Little Skink does.

Ms. Halfmann has been writing children's books for more than 20 years. Little Skink's Tail is her 28th book. This book was dedicated to her granddaughter which makes it even more speical. Ms. Halfmann used to be a manager, editor and writer of coloring and activity books for Golden Books so she has plenty of experience on what children like.

The back of Little Skink's Tail has three pages dedicated "for creative minds." Once you purchase the book, the pages can also be photocopied or downloaded for use.

Footprint Activity Map
Adaptations: Why do animals have tails?
Tail Matching Activity
Each page provided a laugh by my two year old and the six year tried to read the words she knew. I would recommend this book to any child! My girls loved it!

Little Skink's Tail received many awards/recognition:

2009 Learning Magazine Teachers' Choice Award
2009 FPA President's Award Best Children's Book
2009 Mom's Choice Awards GOLD: Best Three Children's Books of 2009, Children's Picture Book-Animal Kingdom, Educators' Choice
2009 Florida Recommended Summer Reading List
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