Cheetahs

Children's Literature - Vicki Foote

The sternTfaced cheetah featured on the cover leads the reader into the short text of facts and photos about the life of this animal. One or two sentences on each page, opposite a photo, describe the cheetah's attributes, such as being the fastest land mammals in the world. The hunting chapter tells how they live on grasslands and stalk hares, antelopes, and other prey. Photos show the actual attack on the antelope and how the cheetah takes it to a safe spot to eat before lions or hyenas show up. More appealing is a photo of the cheetah carrying one of her cubs in her mouth. Several photos show the cheetah with her cubs, teaching them how to hunt. The text is written for readers in level one, which is designed using repetition of high frequency words, light text, predictable sentence patterns, and visual support. A glossary includes the meanings of words used in the text such as predators, prey, and mammals. A table of contents, bibliographical information, and an index is included. This book, which is part of the "Blastoff! Readers: Animal Safari" series is a good introduction to learning about this animal. It could be used by children who are beginning to read independently or by adults to read to pre readers. Reviewer: Vicki Foote