Big Tracks, Little Tracks: Following Animal Prints

Does a cat use his claws when he walks? How does a rabbit run? What does a skunk smell like? Find out the answers in this classic text that teaches young readers how to track animals by finding footprints and other clues. Marlene Donnellys lovely illustrations and Millicent Selsams gentle text make this a perfect first book for children with a budding interest in animals and nature. Included is a new Find Out More page with lots of hands-on activities.

Keeping a sharp eye out for clues like animal tracks and odors can help people identify the animals that have passed through an area.

Does a cat use his claws when he walks? How does a rabbit run? What does a skunk smell like? Find out the answers in this classic text that teaches young readers how to track animals by finding footprints and other clues. Marlene Donnellys lovely illustrations and Millicent Selsams gentle text make this a perfect first book for children with a budding interest in animals and nature. Included is a new Find Out More page with lots of hands-on activities.

Children's Literature

Explaining that natural scientists use clues to investigate the natural world, the author leads young readers through that investigative process. First they examine a set of tracks, then they collect information about the animals that left those tracks, and finally they deduce what happened based on information revealed by the tracks. It's a complicated notion made understandable and appealing by clear writing, up-close illustrations, and satisfying resolutions. Part of the "Let's Read and Find Out Science" series.

Millicent Selsam was a popular childrens science writer whose work includes Egg to Chick, a Reading Rainbow book illustrated by Barbara Wolff, and Gregs Microscope, illustrated by Arnold Lobel.

Marlene Hill Donnelly is a staff artist at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.