Animal, Animal, Animals

​Nancy Brashear and Carolyn Angus
 
The diversity of animals around the world captures the attention of people young and old. The recently published books in this column invite readers to learn about the characteristics and behaviors of various animals that inhabit the land, sea, and sky and to consider their relationships with humans. 

Animal Superpowers! (Amazing Animals #2). Amy Cherrix. Illus. by Frann Preston-Gannon. (2024). Beach Lane.
Amy Cherrix’s companion to Animal Architects (2021) presents a diverse group of ten animals and their survival adaptations—their superpowers—in a child-friendly format. Against the background of Frann Preston-Gannon’s vibrant, double-spread illustrations (rendered with acrylic paint and ink and collaged digitally) of the animals in their natural habitats, Cherrix introduces each animal with text boxes of interesting facts. A turn of the page reveals the name of the animal’s superpower and an explanation of how it supports survival in nature. For example, the barn owl’s superpower is its supersensitive hearing, the mimic octopus can hide in plain sight, and dogs are super sniffers. Back matter includes a call for humans to use our superpower, action, to improve the lives of the world’s animals; notes on specific human activities that impact each of these amazing animals; and selected sources. (PreK-Gr 2)
—CA

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Birds (Little Kids First Nature Guide #3). Moira Rose Donohue. (2024). National Geographic Kids.
“No matter where you live, you can probably see—and hear—birds!” The fact-filled text and close-up photographs of this nature guide provides basic information about birds (their habitats, anatomy, eggs, and chicks) and bird-watching before profiling 20 birds ranging from fluttering hummingbirds, bright blue jays, and hopping robins to crafty crows, outstanding owls, and clever gulls. Each entry includes a brief introduction and a “Check Me Out!” text box listing the bird’s common name, size, home, food, and sound and photographs of several related species. For example, “Peck, Woodpeckers!” describes how the Pileated Woodpecker jabs at trees with its beak searching for insects under the bark as well as spotlighting the Acorn Woodpecker, Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, and Eurasian Wruneck. Back matter includes a “Flightless Birds” section, “Can You Speak Bird?” and “Move Like a Bird!” activities, a glossary, and an index. (PreS Up)
—NB

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Clever Crow. Chris Butterworth. Illus. by Olivia Lomenech Gill. (2024). Candlewick.
“Wherever you are right now, there’s sure to be a crow or two nearby.” Chris Butterworth’s accessible text presented in several font sizes invites young readers to learn about the characteristics and behavior of crows. Most of the more than 100 species in the crow family are plain birds like the black American crow. They are not “fancy fliers.” They croak or caw rather than sing. They are intelligent. They can solve problems and use tools, remember things, and know how to play. Olivia Lomenech Gill’s stunning, double-spread illustrations, done in mixed media, feature realistic portraits of crows. Eighteen different members of the crow family are shown on the back endpaper, and their eggs are pictured on the front endpaper. Back matter includes a “Learn More About Crows” section and an index. (PreK-Gr 2)
—CA

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​The Great Wolf Rescue: Saving the Red Wolves (Sandra Markle’s Science Discoveries). Sandra Markle. (2024). Millbrook.
North American red wolves that flourished in the 1700s slowly disappeared until they were identified as an endangered species in 1973 and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Red Wolf Recovery program was established. Captive breeding programs in zoos and wildlife refuges that increased the numbers of pure red wolves have led to their reintroduction into the wild with tracking collars and camera traps so they can be studied, and pup fostering of red wolf babies with foster mom red wolves that have litters of the same age has proven a successful means for helping them to survive to “have a wild future.” Facts in white font are set against a backdrop of wolf photographs on pages with maps, charts, and a narrative in yellow boxes. Back matter includes an author’s note, “Did You Know?” facts, a glossary, source notes, resources, and an index. (Gr 3 Up)
—NB

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​Komodo Dragons: Nature’s Biggest Lizard (Nature’s Most Massive Animals). Jackie Golusky. (2024). Lerner.
Emerging readers will be mesmerized by the Komodo Dragon, the largest lizard in the world, with its venomous saliva and deadly claws. Jackie Golusky’s informative text, accompanied by colorful, captioned photographs, describes how the female builds fake nests so predators don’t eat her clutch of up to more than 30 eggs, how baby lizards are about 16 inches long when they hatch and grow to be 10 feet, what their diet consists of, where they live, and how they need to be protected as their habitats are decreasing due to trees being cut down and climate change creating fewer places in which they can live. Insets provide additional facts (for example, “The Komodo National Park in Indonesia was created to protect Komodo Dragons”). Back matter includes a labeled photo diagram of a Komodo dragon, more fun facts, a glossary, resources, and an index. (PreK Up)
—NB

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​Mysterious, Marvelous Octopus. Paige Towler. (2024). National Geographic Kids.
In naturalist and author Sy Montgomery’s foreword to this engaging book, she invites young readers to make friends with an octopus and “. . . shake hands—times eight!” In Mysterious, Marvelous Octopus, Paige Towler introduces a variety of octopuses portrayed in stunning photographs paired with informative rhyming verses and insets with additional intriguing facts. For example, these ancient cephalopods have existed on earth for more than 500 million years and were around millions of years before dinosaurs roamed Earth. After considering characteristics and behavior of this eight-armed marine mollusk such as its hidden beak, three hearts, amazing array of color and designs (from pink to brown to blue with spots, rings, stripes, and pearl designs), self-defensive mechanisms, and playful nature, Towler concludes, “. . . who could resist a creature as mysterious and marvelous . . . as THIS?” Back matter includes an octopus photo gallery of all the species included in the book and a glossary of key terms. (PreK-Gr 2)
—NB

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​One Long Line: Marching Caterpillars and the Scientists Who Followed Them (Discovery Chronicles #1). Loree Griffin Burns. Illus. by Jamie Green. (2024). mit Kids.
Over one hundred years apart, two scientists studied the behavior of an unusual type of caterpillar that follows each other and came to different conclusions. After studying the pine processionary species for many years, French Jean-Henri Fabre (1823-1915) died believing they were born with the instinct either to lead, if at the front of the line, or follow, if not. That supposition was challenged a century later when Terrence Fitzgerald (b. 1941), an American, studied tent caterpillars, which don’t march in orderly lines but still arrive together at their destination. He applied his findings from experiments with tent caterpillars to pine processionaries with surprising results. Jamie Green’s illustrations, digitally created in muted green and gray tones, complement Loree Griffin Burn’s narrative in 11 short chapters with informational text boxes. Back matter includes a glossary, a “More About Jean-Henri Fabre and Terrence Fitzgerald” section, further reading, source notes, and bibliography. (Gr 3 Up)
—NB

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1,000 Facts About Sharks. Sarah Wassner-Flynn. (2024). National Geographic Kids.
This collection of facts about sharks is organized in double spread sections with interest-catching titles and text boxes on full-color background photographs beginning with “10 Fast Facts About Sharks” (from “All sharks are FISH,” to  “A small number of sharks, like the salmon shark, are WARM-BLOODED. They can CONTROL THEIR BODY TEMPERATURE.”) on a photograph of a group of hammerhead sharks. The final sections are “50 Alarming Facts About Threats to Sharks” on a photograph of vulnerable lemon sharks and “15 Important Facts About Saving Sharks” featuring a photograph of a protester at a beach in Sydney, Australia, with a “Save Our Sharks” sign. Fact 1000 is “Thanks to conservation efforts, the great white shark—once thought to be in decline—has seen a recent population surge in the Pacific Ocean.” Back matter includes an extensive glossary, a three-page “Kinds of Sharks” section with information about classification and the evolution of sharks, an index, and sources. (Gr 3 Up)
—CA

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Salvatore and the Goats of Mount Etna (Listening to Animals #1). Uschi Müller. Illus. by Brittany Lane. (2024). David Suzuki Institute/Greystone Kids.
For the first time without Papa, Salvatore, who lives with his family on a goat farm at the base of Sicily’s Mount Etna, takes the goats to graze high up the mountain. The meadow is too quiet. Gina, the herd dog, starts barking, and all the goats begin tossing their heads and kicking their hooves. Remembering Papa’s “YOU herd the goats. They don’t herd you,” Salvatore tries to stop them as Bianca, the lead goat, and the others flee down the mountain in panic. Catching up with the goats huddled in a wooded area, he hears a loud rumbling. Mount Etna is erupting. With the help of Bianca and Gina, they all make it safely back to the farm. Uschi Müller, coordinator of ICARUS, a research project studying the “sixth sense” of animals, includes information about the true-life events that occurred in 2012 behind this beautifully crafted picture book. (PreK Up)
—CA

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Sleepy: Surprising Ways Animals Snooze. Jennifer Ward. Illus. by Robin Page. (2024). Beach Lane.
“All animals sleep. But not all animals sleep in the same way.” Jennifer Ward provides information on the sleep behavior of 16 wild animals in an engaging text presented with a repeated “If you’re a . . .” followed by the name of the animal and a rhyming quatrain about its sleep behavior. Additional information is provided in smaller text. Readers will be surprised to learn how much the animals sleep each day ranging from light sleepers, the great frigatebird (45 minutes) and African elephant (2 hours), to deep sleepers, the little brown bat (20 hours) and koala (22 hours). Each entry is complemented by Robin Paige’s colorful collage-like portrait of the sleeping animal rendered in Photoshop. Back matter includes sections on the types of sleep in the book, pie charts of daily “average snooze” time for the wild animals as well as one for people at different stages of life, and selected sources. (PreK-Gr 2)
—CA

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​The Unlikely Hero: The Story of Wolf 8 (Young Readers’ Edition) (Chronicles of the Yellowstone Wolves #1). Rick McEntyre & David A. Poulsen. (2024). Greystone Kids.
Rick McEntyre and David Poulsen’s narration begins with the 1995 reintroduction of wolf packs to Yellowstone National Park that included the family of Wolf 8, runt of the litter, and ends with the death of 8. Throughout 8’s life—from his infancy, to stepping into another pack as the adoptive father of its newborn pups (and, later, the biological father of many more), to protecting and providing for his family—his human-like characteristics such as influence, loyalty, wisdom, empathy, and playfulness are apparent. Each chapter includes an informational inset by National Park Service Ranger Rick McIntyre, who worked on the Yellowstone Wolf Reintroduction Project. Back matter contains an “Afterword: We Are All Related” by Ojibwe John Potter (who also created the pen-and-ink sketches of Wolf 8) telling the origin story of the wolf and a call for readers to cherish the interconnectedness of life. (Gr 3 Up)
—NB

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Wild Brunch: Poems About How Creatures Eat. David L. Harrison. Illus. by Giles Laroche. 92024). Charlesbridge.
David L. Harrison’s playful, rhythmic poems and Giles Laroche’s intricate, double-spread illustrations done in cut-paper relief on hand-painted paper offer an introduction to the feeding behavior of 12 different animals. The collection is organized in three sections: “Swimming Eaters” (jellyfish, narwhal, piranha, and otter); “Land-Based Eaters” (aardvark, koala, African bush elephant, and hippopotamus); and “Flying Eaters” (turkey vulture, Mexican free-tailed bat, housefly, and seagull). Back matter includes additional information and a “Learn More” list of books for each eater as well as a final intriguing “Not an Eater at All” entry about the adult mayfly. “The mayfly doesn’t / bite or / chew or / pinch or / tear or / drink. / It can’t. // It lives only / a single day. / No need / for a mouth. / It needs only / to find a mate.” (PreK Up)
—CA ​

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Nancy Brashear is Professor Emeritus of English at Azusa Pacific University, in Azusa, California. Carolyn Angus is former Director of the George G. Stone Center for Children’s Books, Claremont Graduate University, in Claremont, California.