Overview
Flies are fast! They can hover, walk upside down, and use their lightning-quick reflexes to escape predators. But rainbow trout, slender lorises, and assassin bugs can catch them. Chimney swifts can, too. How do such diverse creatures manage to capture the same prey? Similar in structure to What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?, this eye-popping picture book introduces readers to a menagerie of animals that approach the same challenges in very different ways.
Synopsis
Flies are fast! They can hover, walk upside down, and use their lightning-quick reflexes to escape predators. But rainbow trout, slender lorises, and assassin bugs can catch them. Chimney swifts can, too. How do such diverse creatures manage to capture the same prey? Similar in structure to What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?, this eye-popping picture book introduces readers to a menagerie of animals that approach the same challenges in very different ways.
Children's Literature
"All animals must find or catch food to stay alive." They also have to avoid being eaten, and may need to form shelters or nests. For each of a series of questions on how a variety of creatures solve these problems, Jenkins and Page offer a double page of the answers or solutions. The many ways of snaring a fish, hatching an egg, using a leaf, catching a fly, digging a hole, and eating a clam are all clearly explained and shown. The illustrators find the perfect papers to create realistic creatures from cut and torn paper collages. The esthetically designed pages present the factual information accessibly in both word and image. While the overall effect of each double-page spread is attractive, it is the allure of the details that hold the attention for repeated examination. The question is posed on one side of a double page, with a small parade of the involved creatures across the bottom. The visual and verbal answers on the next spread appear against the white pages. There are four pages of additional information about all the subjects, along with a bibliography. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz
Editorials
From the Publisher
"An enthralling read-aloud, especially in small groups, where children can crowd up close to the images." 9/1/08 Booklist, ALA, Starred Reviewβ[A] stunning creationΒ with an engaging text that's wonderful for both group reading or sharing one-on-one." Kirkus Reviews
"This is good science, organized and illustrated for joyful learning." School Library Journal, Starred
Children's Literature -
"All animals must find or catch food to stay alive." They also have to avoid being eaten, and may need to form shelters or nests. For each of a series of questions on how a variety of creatures solve these problems, Jenkins and Page offer a double page of the answers or solutions. The many ways of snaring a fish, hatching an egg, using a leaf, catching a fly, digging a hole, and eating a clam are all clearly explained and shown. The illustrators find the perfect papers to create realistic creatures from cut and torn paper collages. The esthetically designed pages present the factual information accessibly in both word and image. While the overall effect of each double-page spread is attractive, it is the allure of the details that hold the attention for repeated examination. The question is posed on one side of a double page, with a small parade of the involved creatures across the bottom. The visual and verbal answers on the next spread appear against the white pages. There are four pages of additional information about all the subjects, along with a bibliography. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia MarantzSchool Library Journal
Gr 1-5
In this new take on animal adaptation, readers are asked to guess how six different animals might hatch an egg, use a leaf, eat a clam, or dig a hole. They can then turn the page to see how the creatures, ranging from the well-known grizzly bear to the unusual white tent bat, pull off the task. Jenkins and Page have done a remarkable job of selecting animals with unique adaptations and organizing them into categories for the gamelike feel of the book. The explanations in the body of the book and in the more detailed end matter are clear and engaging. Jenkins's beguiling slender loris on the cover, with its torn-paper fur and uncannily realistic eyes, draws readers into a menagerie of detailed paper art. This is good science, organized and illustrated for joyful learning.-Ellen Heath, Easton Area Public Library, Easton, PA