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HOWL LIKE A WOLF!

Name: HOWL LIKE A WOLF!
Author: Kathleen Yale
ISBN: 978-1-61212-905-1

LEARN TO THINK, MOVE, AND ACT LIKE 15 AMAZING ANIMALS

by Kathleen Yale ; illustrated by Kaley McKean ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 28, 2018

Somewhat limited in scope but full of opportunities for participation.

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Fifteen animals introduce themselves and their behaviors.

After each, youngsters are encouraged to talk or act like them. Readers meet creatures that run, slither, swim, fly; they might live in a tropical forest, in Antarctica, or in a river or ocean. Each one is known for a unique, sometimes peculiar, habit. The Table of Contents provides a list of antics to come: howl like a wolf, slide like a penguin, sing like a whale. Many animals will be recognizable to children, but one or two may be unfamiliar, such as the bowerbird, which builds an elaborate nest, decorates it with found objects, and dances and sings to lure a prospective mate. Critters are captured in rich, matte colors; environments are somewhat representational, such as the acid-yellow desert the rattlesnake occupies. In the concluding section of each brief chapter, one or two members of a diverse cast of children demonstrate the activities that emulate the animal in question. Some of these are easier to enact than others (some require a great deal of room and water), but wild things who learn best by doing will appreciate the imaginative play. Serious naturalists will regret the absence of standardized facts, such as habitat/region and size, as well as suggestions for additional reading, but this is all about the action. As a bonus, masks can be downloaded from the publisher’s website.

Somewhat limited in scope but full of opportunities for participation. (Nonfiction. 5-8)

Pub Date: March 28, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-61212-905-1

Page Count: 80

Publisher: Storey Publishing

Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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BUTT OR FACE?

by Kari Lavelle ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2023

A gleeful game for budding naturalists.

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Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.

In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 11, 2023

ISBN: 9781728271170

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore

Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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ODE TO GRAPEFRUIT
by Kari Lavelle ; illustrated by Bryan Collier

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WE MOVE THE WORLD
by Kari Lavelle ; illustrated by Nabi H. Ali

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WHAT IF YOU HAD AN ANIMAL HOME!?

From the What if You Had . . .? series

by Sandra Markle ; illustrated by Howard McWilliam ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2024

Another playful imagination-stretcher.

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Markle invites children to picture themselves living in the homes of 11 wild animals.

As in previous entries in the series, McWilliam’s illustrations of a diverse cast of young people fancifully imitating wild creatures are paired with close-up photos of each animal in a like natural setting. The left side of one spread includes a photo of a black bear nestling in a cozy winter den, while the right side features an image of a human one cuddled up with a bear. On another spread, opposite a photo of honeybees tending to newly hatched offspring, a human “larva” lounges at ease in a honeycomb cell, game controller in hand, as insect attendants dish up goodies. A child with an eye patch reclines on an orb weaver spider’s web, while another wearing a head scarf constructs a castle in a subterranean chamber with help from mound-building termites. Markle adds simple remarks about each type of den, nest, or burrow and basic facts about its typical residents, then closes with a reassuring reminder to readers that they don’t have to live as animals do, because they will “always live where people live.” A select gallery of traditional homes, from igloo and yurt to mudhif, follows a final view of the young cast waving from a variety of differently styled windows.

Another playful imagination-stretcher. (Informational picture book. 6-8)