Habitat books are Popping Up

theme: nature, animals

Two recent books use pop-ups to invite young children into their habitats. They are written by Libby Walden and illustrated by Clover Robin, with paper engineering credits to Martin Tyler. Originally published in England, Kane Miller released them in US this past spring (2019).

Across the Savannah

In the early morning haze
The noble lion loves to laze.

Pop-up pages introduce readers to six different savannah animals: lion, giraffe, hippo, meerkat, and elephant.

On the Mountain

In the whispering mountain breeze
Two wolf cubs run between the trees.

In this book each pop-up page introduces the reader to an animal you might find when hiking on a mountain: wolf, trout, bighorn sheep, black bear, and bald eagle.

What I like about these books: Simple, rhyming text describes where each animal lives – beneath the rippling surface of a mountain lake, a muddy watering hole, in deep burrows, or on a jagged rocky slope.

Sidebars contain fun facts and additional information about each animal and the habitat. And the pop-ups provide an abundance of details that will have kids searching for more.

Beyond the Books:
Try your hand at making a pop-up book about animals in your back yard. Here's a video to get you started.

Today we're joining other book bloggers over at STEM Friday, where you can discover other cool STEM books.
Review copies provided by the publisher.

Wednesday Explorers Club ~ a very hungry caterpillar

I was wondering where the dill went! Having eaten the leaves, this very hungry cat is going after flowers. Eating things right down to the nibs, as you can see. My, what sharp mandibles it has!

I would put it over on the parsley - but there's another cat chowing that down. Queen Anne's lace? All chewed up... guess I'm sharing dill with the swallowtails this fall.

What kinds of caterpillars do you find in your garden, yard, neighborhood park?

Wait, Rest, Pause

Wait, Rest, Pause: Dormancy in Nature
by Marcie Flinchum Atkins
32 pages; ages 4-8
Millbrook Press, 2020 (released fall 2019)

theme: dormancy, nature, waiting

If you were dormant, you would pause—
waiting,
resting,
huddling,
curling,
napping.

When conditions get tough, some animals head elsewhere. But others – they tough it out by going into a dormant stage: estivation, hibernation, diapause, torpor. Plants go dormant as well. You’ve watched deciduous trees lose their leaves when days grow shorter and colder. The trees hunker down for the winter, waiting for the right condition to break dormancy and produce flowers and leaves.

What I like love about this book: I love the lyrical language that Marcie Atkins uses to show plants and animals going dormant – and then reawakening. The pages are filled with verbs that kids can act out. They are filled with engaging photos of buds and bugs, worms and wildlife. And there is awesome back matter: descriptions of different kinds of dormancy, suggestions for further reading, and websites to explore. If I gave stars, I’d give ‘em all to this book!

Beyond the Books:

Have you ever wondered where worms go in winter? Here’s a place to learn more. And if you’re wondering about what happens to ladybugs, Dr. Laura Levine has the answers.

Download this free Winter Ecology Teacher’s Guide from Glacier National Park for great information about how plants and animals survive the winter. Get PDF.

Meet Marcie Atkins! Next Wednesday I’m interviewing Marcie over at the GROG blog. Please drop by and join us! You can find out more about her at her website.

Today we're joining other book bloggers over at STEM Friday, where you can discover other cool STEM books. And we'll join Perfect Picture Book Friday over at Susanna Leonard Hill's website once it gets back onto its regular schedule. Review copy provided by the publisher.