TURKEYS TOGETHER

This unusual mid-level easy reader employs realistically illustrated animal characters who speak to one another and use logic to solve a problem together. A hunting dog who is searching for quail meets a mother turkey who is distraught at the theft of some of her eggs. The helpful dog tries to find the thief and along the way meets another female turkey who has also lost some eggs to the same thief, an opossum. The dog helps one turkey move her remaining eggs to the other turkey’s nest where they can cooperatively raise their babies together, and the babies then treat both turkeys and the dog as parents. Though the dialogue between the animals implies a fictional treatment, the illustrations are realistically portrayed and some concrete scientific concepts are worked into the text. Animal lovers who are learning to read might find this considerate pointer and his turkey friends a welcome change from more usual easy-reader plotlines, and of course, there is the ever-popular tie-in with the Thanksgiving holiday to provide another use in the classroom. (Easy reader. 5-8)