WHERE ARE THE NIGHT ANIMALS?

by Mary Ann Fraser ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 31, 1999

This Stage 1 entry in the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series focuses on eight common nocturnal creatures, from the barn owl to the harvest mouse. Each animal is introduced through a simple action: coyote hunts, opossum munches berries, tree frog calls to its mate with a ""Kreck-ek, kreck-ek."" The text is curiously disrupted by a middle spread of the dawn and definitions of the terms diurnal and nocturnal; the nighttime animals run for cover, but on the next page, readers are returned to sunset and the examination of those animals resumes. Fraser then emphasizes their interrelatedness: skunk sprays coyote for coming too close, barn owl snatches up mouse, raccoon snatches a crayfish, brown bat seeks out insects. A final spread shows morning, where a pajama-wearing child and raccoon meet through a window glass as ""the night shift ends. The day shift begins."" Naturalistic illustrations provide stills of each animal against deep blues, teals, and aquamarines; endnotes explain where nocturnal animals hide during the day.

Pub Date: Jan. 31, 1999

ISBN: 0064451763

Page Count: 32

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1998

Categories: CHILDREN'S