More Animal tales

A few weeks ago I visited the Toledo Zoo. I love zoos, and each one of them has something different to offer. My visit inspired me to share this trio of books.

Explore My World: Lions
by Amy Sky Koster
32 pages; ages 3-7 years
National Geographic Children's Books, 2018

Leap! Pounce! Play! Roar! That's what lion cubs do. Using simple language, this book gives readers an inside look at family life in a pride of lions. Mothers, daughters, and sisters team up to hunt big game. What's on the menu - zebra?

A lioness may be fierce, but she is a tender mother and teaches her cubs the things they need to know for survival. Back matter provides more information about adaptations, communication, and where lions live.

Oliver's Otter Phase
by Lisa Connors; illus. by Karen Jones
32 pages; ages 4-9
Arbordale, 2018

Oliver's otter phase began one morning after a trip to the aquarium.

At mealtime he tries to use his chest as a plate. That's what otters do. He tries to get dad to tie a string to him because mama otters tie their babies to pieces of kelp so they don't get lost.

Oliver tries out a lot of otter behaviors that don't make sense for kids, and one that does. A fun story for any kid who's wanted to be something more exciting than a ... kid - even if they would rather be a polar bear or eagle. Back matter includes a comparison chart for otters and humans (you can make one for the animal your kid wants to be), plus more otter info and a fun game.

What Do They Do with All That Poo?
by Jane Kurtz; illus. by Allison Black
40 pages; ages 3-8
Beach Lane Books, 2018

At zoo after zoo the animals chew.
And then ... they poo!

Lots of kids' books show what animals eat. This one shows what comes out the other end. From marble-like giraffe droppings to 165 pounds-a-day elephant plops, zoo animals create a lot of excrement.

But it's not all waste. Zoos send some of it to scientists who are studying animal diseases or chemical communication. Some zoos rake and turn the poop, packaging and selling it as a "poopular" compost product called zoo doo. Lion dung is used to repel deer, keeping them from eating plants. But my favorite: paper made from elephant manure.  

Today we're joining the STEM Friday roundup.  On any other Friday we'd be joining others over at Perfect Picture Book Friday, but it's summer vacation. PPBF will resume in September, but you can always head over to Susanna Hill's ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books. Review copies from publishers; What Do They Do with All That Poo? from Blue Slip Media .

Wednesday Explorers Club ~ pollinators

While out looking for bees, I came upon this guy. Not a bee at all - look closely and you notice that it has only one pair of wings. A flower fly. Look closer, and you see another, off to the right, caught in flight.

About a half hour later, tiny bees headed out on pollen-gathering trips.

There were a couple of butterflies and a hummingbird flitting about the area, too. What sort of pollinators visit the flowers in your yard and garden? Look closely. Take a photo if you can, and then see if you can find out what kinds of butterflies, bees, wasps, or flies are visiting the flowers in your neighborhood.

Animal books!

 Today ~ three books about animals from National Geographic Children's Books (2017).  What I like about them all is the wealth of bright, crisp photos, close-up views into animal worlds, and the language is accessible to children.

Hey Baby!
by Stephanie Drimmer
192 pages; ages 4-8

Who can resist photos of animal babies? With their too-long legs, waiting-to-grow-into feet, and cute round faces, they are irresistible!

This book is divided into sections based on habitats: mountain and plains babies, desert and coast babies, ocean and sea babies.... Each section features a dozen or more of the cutest, cuddliest babies ever. You get to know them through profiles, folk tales and fairy tales,  poems, and true-life stories. Plus there are fun facts scattered through the book.

 Explore My World Rain Forests
by Marfe Ferguson Delano
32 pages; ages 3-7

Another in this fun series for young readers. Short sections focus on different aspects of the rain forest, from colors to sounds. There are green leaves, electric blue butterflies, pink bugs. Another section focuses on the ways animals move. Snakes slither, tigers slink. And, of course, there is rain!

There's a map for kids who want to know where to find a rain forest, and a couple of activities that encourage kids to explore beyond the book.

Wild Cats
by Elizabeth Carney
32 pages; ages 4-6
This is aimed at kids who are beginning to read on their own, so I like that it begins with a table of contents. Each "chapter" is only a couple or so pages long and written in large-print, easy-to-understand language.

After an introduction to the cat family the reader gets a world tour of  wild cats; who lives where? A diagram of a cat "up close" shows how all cats are alike and there's a list of cool facts about wild cats. If you're into animal babies, there's an entire chapter devoted to "caring for cubs." The book ends with a chapter describing people who are working to protect cats and their habitats.

Review copies provided by publisher.