Page 90 - Publishers_Weekly

Review_CHILDREN’S

Animal Wonders
w
Animal-themed picture books help inspire a love of the wild.

Baby Animals Moving abstracted mixed-media images. The bird constructs its nest
Suzi Eszterhas. Owlkids (PGW, dist.), $16.95 (24p) ISBN 978-1- by pushing and pulling twigs together, then fills it with
77147-299-9 “softer things” such as feathers and grass: “Can you guess what
In this companion to Baby Animals Playing, wildlife pho- it’s waiting for? Eggs!” Closing questions invite readers to
tographer Eszterhas features 12 species of young animals. An revisit the book with the concepts of pushing and pulling in
orangutan clings to its mother’s fur, warthog piglets run mind: “Can you find some places in the book where Bird
through the grass, and a joey travels in its pushes something?” It’s a neat way for readers to see science
mother’s pouch. Eszterhas pairs the pho- fundamentals at work in nature. Ages 4–6. (Feb.)
tographs with playful descriptions: “Hold
on tight! A cute koala hitches a ride on A Mammal Is an Animal
Mom’s back. By the time she turns one Lizzy Rockwell. Holiday House, $17.95 (40p) ISBN 978-0-8234-
she will climb trees all by herself.” In 3670-5
another photo, a sea otter pup snuggles In this gently illustrated companion to A Bird Is a Bird, a
up to his mother as she swims on her back (“What a cozy way father takes his son and daughter on a walk with their dog
to travel!”). In a closing spread, Eszterhas includes additional through the farm and woodland near their home. As they
photos and insights into her process: “I had to climb high up explore, Rockwell introduces the characteristics of mammals
a tree in the rain forest of Costa Rica to snap a photo of this (such as having a skeleton and spine, being warm-blooded,
sleepy baby and its mom,” she writes about two sloths. and breathing air) and asks readers whether certain animals
Eszterhas’s respect and affection for her subjects shines through meet the criteria: “A ladybug is an animal. A ladybug has
in her dynamic, expertly framed images. Ages 3–6. (Mar.) body parts that are hard. But is a ladybug a mammal? No!”
Animals that do fit the bill include humpback whales, harbor
Yodel the Yearling seals, white-headed capuchin monkeys, and African elephants.
Mary Holland. Arbordale, $17.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-60718-448-5 While readers may need clarification that not all of the fea-
In this light wildlife primer, naturalist and photographer tured animals share a habitat—and don’t all live in places like
Holland focuses on a family of black bears. One-year-old the area the characters are exploring—they’ll learn plenty
“Yodel,” his two siblings, and their mother wake from “a long about the ways that animals are categorized and classified.
winter’s nap.” Photographs show the cubs as they clean their Ages 4–7. (Feb.)
fur, chew on sticks, and play in their forest nook (“They roll
around with their mouths open, grabbing each other’s fur. ★ The Truth About Hippos
Sometimes they look like they are mad at each other, but they Maxwell Eaton III. Roaring Brook/Porter, $15.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-
are just having fun”). When the cubs’ mother leaves to find 62672-667-3
food, the cubs climb up into a “babysitter tree” (“Here they A girl learns about pygmy and common hippos from the
will be safe from any danger while she’s gone”). The photo- animals themselves in this irreverent and very funny series
graphs offer an intimate perspective on the bears and less of a opener. Eaton’s concise narration serves
sense of their surrounding environment. Back matter provides as a kind of straight man to the ani-
bear-related learning activities, including a closer look at the mals’ plucky one-liners and commen-
foods bears eat, and black bear signs like tracks and marking tary. “A common hippo can weigh as
trees. Ages 3–8. (Feb.) much as four cows,” he notes, as an
accompanying cartoon shows a lol-
Bird Builds a Nest lipop-licking hippo sitting opposite
Martin Jenkins, illus. by Richard Jones. Candlewick, $16.99 (32p) four cows on a seesaw. “This doesn’t feel
ISBN 978-0-7636-9346-6 safe,” says one of the cows. “It’s not,”
In this kickoff to the First Science Storybook series, author quips the girl, who’s also on the seesaw. A subplot has a hippo
and biologist Jenkins follows a bird as it calf trying to find its mother, and Eaton mischievously under-
builds its nest, but his real goal is to cuts their happy reunion with details about threats facing
explore the concepts of force and gravity hippos (“We were having a moment,” complains the mother
(which are discussed in an introductory hippo). Kids who need convincing that learning can be fun
note to parents). Drab shades of rust, need look no further for proof. Also available: The Truth About
brown, and pale blue-green lend a sense Bears. Ages 4–8. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary
of calm to Jones’s flattened and slightly Studio. (Feb.)

82 PUBLISHERS WEEKLY ■ JANU AR Y 22, 2018