Nic Bishop: Marsupials [Hardcover]

Nic Bishop (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2009 | Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Another fascinating close-up look at the wonders of the natural world from Sibert Honor photographer Nic Bishop.

Most people know about lions, zebras, monkeys, and bears, but what about bettongs and bilbies? Or quolls and quokkas? And potoroos and pademelons? These animals live on the continent of Australia, along with kangaroos, koalas, and many other marsupials. With breathtaking full-page images, including a double-gatefold spread, Sibert-Honor photographer Nic Bishop introduces the beauty and diversity of these amazing animals. The simple, engaging text presents both basic information and fun, quirky facts about marsupials' appearance, habits, and life cycle. An index and glossary are included.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 2–5—This book is full of the exceptional-quality photographs and enticing facts that readers have come to expect from Bishop. His endnotes explain how he captured the images using trip wires and bait for many of these nocturnal mammals. In addition to captions, an informative sentence is highlighted in a contrasting color and larger type within explanatory paragraphs that accompany each stunning image. Readers learn that baby koalas eat "pap," a mushy, green baby food that is actually their mother's "poop," that some marsupials don't have pouches, and that all start out the size of a bean or smaller. Details like these are accompanied by tangible analogies that enhance the facts. The center spread opens out into four pages that reveal a dramatic multiple exposure of a sugar glider leaping across an expanse in a sequence that captures its flight. This is a book to wow young audiences.—Janet S. Thompson, Chicago Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Nic Bishop is the author and photographer of many award-winning books for children, including Red-Eyed Tree Frog; Chameleon, Chameleon; and Forest Explorer. He has a doctorate in biological sciences and a passionate interest in many of the smaller animals on our planet. Originally from New Zealand, Nic lives in Michigan. Visit him at www.nicbishop.com.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 043987758X
• ISBN-13: 978-0439877589
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #293,125 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Some of the best nonfiction for young readers!, February 10, 2010

By 

W. Shelley (Charlottesville, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nic Bishop: Marsupials (Hardcover)

With "Marsupials" Nic Bishop continues to provide some of the best nonfiction for young readers. Although his photos for "Marsupials" aren't as breath-taking as his other titles (check out "Frogs" and/or "Spiders"), they are excellent nonetheless and capture a wide variety of these animals in numerous settings. The text is straightforward without being too simple, and provides thought-provoking details. My best guess is that this is written on a third grade reading level. So, for a child to independently read this, he would have to be an advanced first grader to a struggling fourth grader.

4.0 out of 5 stars guaranteed treat, February 2, 2010

By 

Kirsten G. Cutler (Santa Rosa, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nic Bishop: Marsupials (Hardcover)

Bishop, Nic. Marsupials. Scholastic Inc. 2009.

A Kangaroo can run faster than a horse and a Bilby "looks like a mix-and-match puzzle. It has the ears of a rabbit, the legs of a kangaroo, the body of an aardvark, and the silky soft fur of a chinchilla." These and many other interesting details about marsupials are presented in this very appealing photo essay. The photographs are astoundingly clear and up-close: a possum's liquid brown eyes stare out of one photo and his bright pink nose looks ready to twitch. There is a beautiful crystalline shot of an elusive tree kangaroo and a very humorous shot of a mother koala bear slumbering while her Joey looks askance down at her. In an amazing double spread foldout, four poses of a gliding possum reveal it soaring with its leg flaps fully extended. A nice author's note explains his passion to study marsupials in the field and his fear for the long term survival of some of the threatened breeds; a photograph shows him out in the field with all his camera gear. The variety of these unique mammals is well presented in this attractive book - a guaranteed treat for animal lovers.

5.0 out of 5 stars This was a stunning look at some of the most elusive marsupials on the Australian continent!, December 26, 2009

By 

D. Fowler "Dragonfly77" (Vermont) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nic Bishop: Marsupials (Hardcover)

Many children learn about mammals and marsupials in school, but aren't familiar with some of the more unusual members of the group. A marsupial, who is also a mammal, is different in that when their babies are born they "are so small, they look like pink jelly beans with two little legs." The kangaroo is probably the marsupial that quickly comes to most people's minds, but how about the boodie, the Mtschie's tree kangaroo, the rufous bettong, the bilby, the fat-tailed dunnart, the quoll, the numbat and the Tasmanian devil? Yes, there really is such a thing as a Tasmanian devil!

In this amazing book we are whisked off to the continent of Australia to learn about and meet with these marvelous, but sometimes downright odd looking creatures. For example, that Tasmanian devil, whose "bloodcurdling shrieks" frightened Australia's early settlers, can wolf down "half its weight in meat in just thirty seconds." The Matschie's tree kangaroo is one of those rarely seen creatures, so rare that many people don't believe they exist. You will when you see a photograph of one. These elusive critters can actually "walk by moving one leg at a time." This stunning book will give you an armchair view of marsupials Nic Bishop took months to capture with his camera. One time he snapped a picture of a wombat only after "wriggling on [his] belly for hours!"

This was a stunning look at some of the most elusive marsupials on the Australian continent. The astounding photographs were no surprise because if you have ever read any of Nic Bishop's previous books you'll know you are in for a real treat. One of my favorites was of a sugar glider leaping from one tree to another. The background was predominantly black and the animal's "flight," captured on a pull out four page spread, was beautiful. This is the type of nonfiction that even the most reluctant reader can learn from by simply looking at the photographs. It is hard to beat Nic Bishop when it comes to this type of book, but I think he's starting to top his own work!