Review by Booklist Review
Moving beyond camouflaged animals, the new volume from the In the Wild series introduces 10 mysterious objects seen in nature. Each spread begins with a short verse, varying in form from rhymed couplets to concrete poems to haiku. The words are set on a white page facing an excellent color photo of, say, a squirrel nest, an owl pellet, or a blob of spittlebug foam. Opening the gatefold reveals more about the object. The clever verse, curious photos, and guessing-game element will engage children, while the clear explanations and photos of details will enlighten them.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4-A nifty combo of poetry (often of the concrete variety), super color photos, scientific information, and a guessing game (complete with whole-page flaps for lifting). For example, a verse printed in wavy lines reads: "We're long and lithe, we wiggle and writhe. Of dead things we dispose./We daily toil to plow the soil, and help stuff decompose!" Lift the flap to reveal a photo of an earthworm depositing another cast on the pile and several paragraphs of information on the vital work done by these beneficial creatures. The punch line of "Cliff Dweller" says, "My home is warm, but kind of smelly/From scraps of fish once in my belly!" The flap showing a hole in a riverbank reveals a belted kingfisher feeding its young in its burrow and a description with a lot of data including the reason for the stinky aroma. Fun as a read-alone or for one-on-one sharing, this tidy package from a talented trio will delight children (and teachers of whole curriculum, too). Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
This third book by the authors/photographer team about animals in their natural environments challenges readers to figure out the builders of strange-but-natural constructions. A poem, with text providing clues, and part of a larger photograph begins each section; a foldout gives detailed information about the animals and the mounds, tunnels, and pellets they create. High-quality color photographs invite scrutiny. Reading list, websites. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Ten riddle-poems accompany pictures of mysterious holes, bubbles, balls and mounds in the natural world, revealed to be the workings or leavings of small, sometimes familiar creatures. This third in the series of highly acclaimed books that began with Where in the Wild? (2007) offers a clever twist on the original idea. Each double-page spread features a poem on the left and a mysterious picture on the right. Lift the right-hand flap to reveal a full-bleed photograph of the creature, some smaller photos and a column of text explaining the phenomenon. Readers are addressed directly, with invitations to pick apart an owl pellet or imagine walking through a meadow and encountering a spittlebug's bubbly home. The range of animals is broad, and the poetry comes in a variety of forms. Some, like the grey squirrel's "Skittery, scattery..." beg to be read aloud, even memorized; others, like the wavery lines of the earthworms, depend upon readers' appreciation of the shape. Suggestions for further reading, one title for each animal, conclude this inviting series of puzzles. (Informational picture book. 5-10)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
