Oddball Armadillos

The Oddball Book of Armadillos 

by Elizabeth Shreeve ; illus. by Isabella Grott 

40 pages; ages 7-10

Norton Young Readers, 2024  

theme: armadillos, evolution, nonfiction

Are they giant roly-poly bugs? Time-traveling dinosaurs? Crazy mixed-up turtle-rabbits? No! They’re armadillos…

… small mammals with tough, scaly armor. Modern armadillos may be as small as 6-inches, but some of their prehistoric ancestors were as big as cars! In this book, Elizabeth Shreeve introduces readers to a variety of armadillos found around the world: pink fairy armadillos, nine-banded armadillos, the screaming hairy armadillo, and more. She discusses armadillo adaptations, behavior, and migration for modern and prehistoric animals. 

What I like about this book: As with The Upside-Down Book of Sloths, Elizabeth Shreeve presents information about armadillos in layers. Some pages feature large text with conversational language, while others have smaller text with sidebars providing more details. That makes this book perfect to read as a picture book to younger kids (6-7) and as an informational book for the 7-10 year old crowd. Some of those sidebars highlight cool stuff, like how armadillos walk under water and how artists have been portraying armadillos for the past thousand years or so.

Armadillos are odder than I expected! So I knew I had to ask Elizabeth One Question: What inspired you to write a book about ancient armadillos?

Elizabeth: Great question! Armadillos are related to sloths, a topic that I explored in The Upside-Down Book of Sloths (Norton Young Readers, 2023). My editor was all-in for a companion title about the “little armored ones” and their prehistoric kin. Armadillos, both living and extinct, help us understand the natural history of the Americas, a topic with special meaning for many students. Plus who doesn’t love an oddball? By celebrating life-forms that are less familiar, we can send a message about embracing differences and finding connections. Let’s appreciate all of Earth’s creatures!

Thanks, Elizabeth. And with that, let’s go have some Beyond-the-Books fun!

Learn more about armadillos at the San Diego Zoo website 

Armadillos can roll up into a ball. Can you? What other animals roll up in a ball to protect themselves?

For older kids: Check out the Adaptation Game in the teacher’s guide at Elizabeth’s website. It’s a card game developed specifically for the book, and shows how the traits of animal populations help them survive in the environments they live in.  

Elizabeth is a member of #STEAMTeam2024. You can find out more about her at her website.

Today we’re joining Perfect Picture Book Friday. It’s a wonderful gathering where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Explore Outdoors ~ honeybee in flight

 Every now and then I capture a bug commuting to work.... 

Holladay, UT /August 2024

Small Science Expeditions

The Observologist: A Handbook for Mounting Very Small Scientific Expeditions 

by Giselle Clarkson 
120 pages; ages 8-13
Gecko Press (Lerner), 2024

“An observologist is someone who makes scientific expeditions every day, albeit very small ones.” With that introduction you know this will be the perfect book to inspire a backyard study of small things: earthworms, caterpillars, fungi, slug eggs…. 

There are only two things you need to know if you’re going to be an observologist:

1. You’ll spend a lot of time looking at the ground (which is closer to you if you’re between the ages of 8-13 than if you’re an adult).
2. You need to be curious. Because being an observologist is like being a detective… looking for clues that lead to something cool and interesting.

After introducing the whats, hows, and whys of Observology the remainder of the book presents four potential expedition sites – and the sorts of things one might study/observe/examine while there. These are places accessible to any kid: a damp corner (perfect site for discovering more about centipedes and fungi); pavement (great habitat for ants and worms); weedy patches (insects galore!); and around the house.

What I like love about this book: I love the introductory section where Giselle Clarkson lays out such things as “principles of observology,” the reasons for scientific names, and the importance of drawing what you discover. I love the table of contents that exudes the feeling of being a field guide to adventure. Each section – er, expedition site – includes one to three spreads filled with details about the organisms one might discover. There’s even a spread devoted to “aural observology” for those who want to recognize insects by the sounds they make. 

“Not all buzzes are alike,” Giselle writes, “and you have to have very clever ears.”

For those using this book as a text, there is a final exam and a certificate at the back – plus a great index for quick reference to the organisms. Best of all, this book is suitable for parents, teachers, homeschoolers, grandparents, and scientifically minded extraterrestrials desiring to learn more about this planet. 

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.