Tuesday Storytime: Wild Animals

We missed last week due to ice, and almost missed today due to snow!  February is crazy this year, but we spent a while (and a very interactive group) in the jungle today to compensate.

Whose Tail is This?  A Look at Tails - Swishing, Wiggling, and Rattling
Peg Hall, illustrated by Ken Landmark
ISBN: 1404800115
Nonfiction: a tail on one page is followed by the whole animal on the next, with short facts about the tail and animal.

I like doing nonfiction books every once in a while, and this is a great nonfiction example - basic topical info (tail-oriented) is presented in the main text, and there are content-boxes as well with a "fun fact" or more in-depth look at some interesting aspect of the creature's tail.

There is also a really extensive set of extras at the back: a page of riddles, more facts about tails (from animals that didn't appear in the book) a short list of vocabulary, a "learn more" section with books and e-resources, and an index.

The illustrations are poppy and very bright - lots of yellows and pinks and bright backgrounds.  The tails are a little bit on the cartoony side, but the kids recognized all of them nearly instantly, so I'm guessing that isn't a problem.



Dear Zoo
Rod Campbell
ISBN: 0027164403
Classic: Boy writes to zoo for a pet, and sends everything back until they send just the perfect animal.

I love this book so much.  It's a classic, and one I remember from childhood, and it's super sweet, super simple, and super interesting for kids.  Clean white backgrounds with various-sized containers of animals on one side, all of which are lift-the-flap illustrations.  Some of the animals are easily recognized through or around their containers, but others aren't and the suspense is really rough on the kids - what animal is it going to be this time?  The vocabulary and writing is minimal, and in a very textural "typewriter" font.  Each animal is rejected for some reason, until the zoo "thought very hard, and sent me a..." (spoiler: it's a puppy in a wicker basket.)  Too adorable.


Where Wild Babies Sleep
Ann Purmell, illustrated by Lorianne Siomades
ISBN: 0590780493
Nonfiction: each page or spread identifies an animal baby and where they sleep, in a Q&A format.

I wish I could have read this one for a slightly less active and interactive group - I don't know how much of this one was actually heard over the competing kids attempting to tell their own stories.  On the other hand, it is cute and sweet, the information is factual and presented straightforwardly with very lovely textured collage illustrations, and the idea of a human child being a "wild baby" was really shocking to my tiny little audience.  I might try this one again with a bedtime storytime and hope for a less excited group.