Monkeys and Foxes and Brilliance, Oh, My!

Several of my recent nonfiction reviews here have focused on biographies or other profile-style narratives. Our CYBILS AWARDS nominees include many of these, but also books about science, technology, enginerering, math (STEM) and art (STEAM!). Check out some of these HERE, HERE, and HERE, with more to come in the next week or two. 

First, though, these two nominees explore facts about animals in brilliant ways. Everyone loves animals, right? It doesn't take much to catch a young reader's attention if the subject is an animal, right? On some level, perhaps that is true. 

And yet...

Some explorations are masterpieces, as are these.

Beach Lane Books, 2021

Melissa Stewart is the author of FOURTEEN MONKEYS: A RAIN FOREST RHYME. Stewart has justifiably achieved fame and status among writing, science, and literary types for her superb webinars, essays on nonfiction writing, and countless other platforms from which she guides and elevates the quality of nonfiction literature for young readers. I appreciate and follow those efforts, but I found her first through her picture books while working with kids. Her website offers a full array of the many titles, categories, and styles of her publications, as well as providing resources for readers, teachers, and writers. 

In this instance, her work is illustrated by Steve Jenkins, who is equally renowned for his picture books featuring animals of every type and in every conceivable relationship to the text. A quick click on either creator's name will take you to images of books that you recognize immediately as kid favorites. 

This latest is an outstanding example of the talents and expertise with which both are able to investigate unique aspects of seemingly ordinary topics in extraordinary ways. They each combine elements in their presentations that offer appeal and information across ages and levels of education so kids of many ages and their grown-ups (also of many ages) share in the awe and discovery of a specific strand of Earth's remarkable web of life. 

Stewart's successful approach involves parallel text: Simple rhymed lines in large font on white space pair with short passages of detailed explanatory text for older audiences. The structure of the text provides a conceptual frame passing from morning to night, layering potential for this as a bedtime book. All the while it is expanding vocabulary, lyrical language, and specific information about the fourteen monkey species that manage to find suitable habitat in a single  rainforest habitat, the Manu National Park in Peru. Somehow that small patch of resources and climate provides suitable living for the needs of distinctly different body types, food and space needs, and behavioral adaptations. 

Vibrant and dramatic illustrations by Jenkins incorporate vast amounts of information about the physical and behavioral features of each species and habitat, while offering a small inset of a rainforest tree silhouette that marks the layer and niche within it that is home to that particular species. The creatures are expressive and active on the page without losing any degree of their natural appearance or patterns. The leafy, textured realm is sometimes referenced in text but is informative on its own, depicting distinctive leaves, vines, branches and trunks that are unique to  our invaluable rainforests. 

Back matter is a treasure trove of appealing and expansive content, with a double spread compilation of the fourteen monkey species within the layers of a single/sample tree, followed by spotlight profiles of each, sources, further readings, and scaled-size comparisons. This is not the first time Stewart and Jenkins teamed up to make an outstanding nonfiction picture book, but this may just be my favorite among their many beloved titles.

Running Press Kids, 2021

HOW TO FIND A FOX is written by Kate Gardner and photographed by Ossi Saarinen. In this case, I was unfamiliar with either the author or the photographer, but oh, am I a fan of foxes. I learned that the photographer's nature images were the start of this story, and i can see why they inspired. The fact that such elusive, even skittish wild critters could be captured in these intense, spontaneous, and natural poses invites celebration and elaboration in text. 

The author, like Stewart, provides parallel text, combining several short lines that speak simply and directly to readers, indicating how they, too, just might find a fox. Then a short passage of small font text appears, unobtrusively, to provide more detailed understanding of the ways of foxes. Facts are reflected within the context of the photographic images, and that makes every bit of information cling in our thoughts, almost as if tied to a personal memory.

Both books are enchanting, intriguing, and worthy of everyone's attention. I hope you'll agree and share them widely.

Finally SPRING! Time for Robins and Nests

I've been bemoaning our wintery weather throughout April, including in this recent post. So  this post is a combined celebration of sunshine, sixty-degree days, and two fantastic picture books about birds. 

Clarion Books, 2017

Resilient robins made their way north right on schedule, only to struggle-stagger under the prolonged snow, ice, wind, and winter. I almost felt guilty at my gratitude for their arrival, at my spirits rising when they trilled their morning songs. 
I've had to renew my library copy of ROBINS! How They Grow Up by Eileen Christelow because it felt unfair to write or share a post about them until the weather matched the calendar. Now that the sun is streaming through my open window and birdsong signals nesting season is well underway, I'm eager to recommend these amazing books, beginning with this full disclaimer: I'm a bird-lover, bird-caregiver, and robin-fan.
This oversized, richly illustrated picture book offers readers entertainment while providing excellent scientific information. Charming revelations of the hidden life of robins come across through the appealing first-person dialogue between a pair of juvenile robins, nest-mates who directly address readers from the corners of each spread. The life cycle of robins in general is explored through their specific family story, allowing readers to empathize with and admire the complexity of robins' survival and the adaptability of a species. 
As author and illustrator of this winning offering, Christelow has captured specific anatomical, developmental, habitat, and behavioral traits that I observed many times while working as a licensed wildlife rehabilitator some years ago. Her intense research and observation are evident in her depiction of the energetic nestlings, fledglings, and juveniles as well as pair and flock patterns and predatory threats. Even the onomatopoetic sounds are accurate. I urge you to get this book, explore (and enjoy) it thoroughly, including the accessible back matter, then head out into our overdue spring and see what I mean. Christelow nailed it, and I couldn't be more grateful to her for doing so.

Beach Lane Books, 2014

Experiencing this book will invite further reading of bird books. Before rushing to a field guide, though, check out MAMA BUILT A LITTLE NEST, written by Jennifer Ward and Illustrated by Steve Jenkins. This appealing picture book combines rhyming verses, parallel informative text, and "awww"-inspiring illustrations that convey specific details and reveal a broader concept about the what, how, and why of nests. Steve Jenkins has perfected the ability to illustrate nature/animals with scientific accuracy while capturing the remarkable individuality of a single creature. There are many ways in which this book serves as mentor text: conveying factual content in verse;  extending information in concise text; organizing of the overall content in relation to each component; and drawing satisfying conclusions within nonfiction text. 
As the school year winds down, books like these can be the salvation on a long, over-warm school day.
Head to a library or bookstore for these two picture books, share them with your kids at home or in classrooms, then move your new-found knowledge and interest outdoors for field observations, notes, and writing. 

Poems That Squeak, Soar, and ROAR!

 Picture a child you know (or have ever known, including yourself) who does not love animals of one kind or another.

 Think hard now, I'll wait.... 

Can't do it, can you?. 

I'm convinced that animals are soulmates of the young, and many of us are lucky enough to not outgrow that link. 

The subhead on the cover of this musst-have poetry anthology is:

200 poems with photographs that squeak, soar, and ROAR!

National Geographic Society, 2012

With poems like that and phenomenal images by some of the world's best photographers this book stands tall as a new classic and is destined to have a long shelf life.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Book of ANIMAL POETRY, with Favorites from Robert Frost, Jack Prelutsky, Emily Dickinson, and More, edited by J. Patrick Lewis, US Children's Poet Laureate, must be seen to be believed.

Start with a title page grasshopper who appears able to take on the terminator, scan the table of contents which reveals stellar poets and titles, then consider the way in which these two hundred poems have been organized:

WELCOME to the WORLD

the big ones

the little ones

the winged ones

the water ones

the strange ones

the noisy ones

the quiet ones

final thoughts

Each section features poems by recognized literary superstars and some other surprising sources, superimposed on absolutely breathtaking photography.

The introduction by Lewis says, "This book is not for reading straight through. Pick it up any time. Choose a poem and then read it out loud: You want your ears to have as much fun as your mouth is having." 

Good advice for any poetry anthology.

Yet with this book I encourage readers of any age to start at the cover and take time with it, savoring page after page, all the way through to page 169. Slowly. Let the images speak to you. Absorb the visual power captured in this book. I doubt anyone will be able to resist reading at least a few poems along the way. For example: 

BUTTERFLY

What is a butterfly?

At best

He's but a caterpillar

Dressed.

-Benjamin Franklin

Whether you reach the end of the collection or not, take time for the back matter. There are pages of advice on writing your own poems, resources for further advice, a title index,  a poet index,  a first line index, and a subject index.

Finally, there is this dedication: To poets, animals, and animal poets everywhere.

Farrar, Straus, Giroux (BYR), 2007

The wide-ranging reach of poets included here is likely to spark an interest in reading other collections, so here's one that is a worthy place to start:

ANIMAL POEMS, by Valerie Worth with pictures by Steve Jenkins. 

Since animals never fail to inspire, try writing some poems of your own. Or just write a comment here about a favorite poem or animal of your own.