WHO'S YAWNING NOW?

Wild animals explain why they yawn—and more about their species—in this guide by wildlife photographer Geigert.

Animals yawn for different reasons, and some animals “catch” each other’s yawns, just like humans do. On each page, Geigert offers an entry from the animal’s point of view and one photograph. At the top, a green banner provides short, engaging text designed to be read aloud to, or with, preschool readers. Most pages offer a reason behind the yawn in the photograph: “I yawn when the bugs bite me,” the dhole informs readers, then asks, “Do you yawn when you get bug bites?” Descriptions compare and contrast animal and human responses—“Does your mommy yawn also?” asks the wallaby. Young audiences will giggle at the comparisons. (The jaguar encourages readers to try to yawn with their tongues hanging out, something young readers are sure to attempt to imitate.) Below the text for young readers, the smallish photograph is accompanied by longer text for independent readers describing more details about the animal: habitat, physical characteristics and behaviors, and endangerment status (“There are over 100 species of Lemurs, and we are the most critically endangered animal in the world. We are only found in Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world”). This section varies in quality across the book; the first-person narrative is sometimes clunky, especially when Geigert offers facts that seem beyond the animal’s ken. Unfortunately, the book doesn’t suggest how young conservationists can help endangered animals. Geigert’s yawning photographs are fantastic, however, catching a camel, hippo, antelope, and more with mouths agape, so it’s a shame that the photographs aren’t larger.

A clever concept and striking photographs, but the text falls short.