Animals by Day and Night

There are tons of new books about animals! Here are three to get started.
themes: animals, nonfiction, STEM

 Daytime Nighttime, All Through the Year
by Diane Lang; illus. by Andrea Gabriel
32 pages; ages 4-9
Dawn Publications, 2017

All day while you're busy
     The animals, too,
In winter or summer
     Have so much to do.

Whether it's daytime or nighttime, animals are busy going about their lives. Each spread presents a month of the year, with one daytime-active animal and one night-active animal. For example, bald eagles fish during winter days, while during the nights coyotes howl and prowl.

What I like about this book: I love that it goes through the year, featuring animals that are active at those times. I also like the way each spread features an animal active during the day and one during the night. And that the illustrations include animal families. There's also a lot of diversity: mammals, birds, reptiles, mollusks, insects, amphibians. Back matter includes a matching game, more animal details, and some outdoor activities.

Predator Face-Off
by Melissa Stewart
32 pages; ages 4-6
National Geographic Children's Books, 2017

Great white sharks swim in the sea.
Cheetahs run across the land.

What do these animals have in common? They're predators...they all eat meat. Short chapters focus on individual predators - sharks, cheetahs, and snakes. Other chapters illustrate the diversity among predators.

What I like about this book: the "word bite" text boxes that offer definitions. Close-up photos of teeth. Jokes (what do you call the stuff caught between a shark's teeth?). Photos with great informational labels. There's a Word Bank at the back (an illustrated glossary) and a short challenge for kids.

Animal Tails
by Mary Holland
32 pages; ages 4-9
Arbordale, 2017

Some animals have tails and some don't. Do you have one?

Using photographs and text, Mary Holland shows different types of tails and what they're used for. Need to signal danger? If you're a white-tailed deer, just flip your tail up like a flag to alert the herd. Need an extra hand? Then you need a possum tail so you can haul extra nesting materials.

What I like about this book: The photos are gorgeous, and the text is clear and simple to read. Back matter includes a tail-match game and lots of information about tail adaptations.

Beyond the Books:

Go on an animal hike. What sort of animals do you see during the day? What sorts of tails do they have?

What special adaptation would you like to have that would allow you to do a favorite daytime activity at night? Think about adaptations animals have: large eyes, excellent hearing or smelling, sensitive whiskers or paws. Now engineer an adaptation that would allow you to play soccer (or whatever you love to do) at night.

Check out this video of a cheetah hunting gazelles.

Today we're joining the STEM Friday roundup - and we're also joining others over at Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books. Review copies from the publishers.