SAY IT AGAIN

paper 0-88106-342-8 What at first appears to be a slender idea—the presentation of animals with names comprised of repeating syllables, such as the aye-aye or caracara—turns into a delightful, rhyming excursion. Cassie covers the common names of 12 species, with their ranges clearly identified in the penultimate spread, and the etymology of their common names shown in the final spread. The source of their common names is arguably as intriguing as the animals themselves, e.g., the small frou-frou (a.k.a. the Antillean crested hummingbird) found flying through leaves in French-speaking Caribbean islands owes its common name to a French word that describes a rustling sound; thus is habit and habitat painlessly united in readers’ minds. Sometimes the animals’ names come from their own behavior; the dik-dik is a small African antelope that says “dik dik” as it leaps to safety, while the silver gibbon called a wow-wow makes that noise early in the morning. Detailed acrylic illustrations showing every creature in nature are framed by attractive motifs; every spread offers a circled close-up of the animal as well as geographic clues about where it lives. These elements will draw readers to learn more, making this not only great for browsing, but also a fine introduction to environmental studies. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-10)