From the Publisher
"Delightful."—Booklist
"[A] jaunty rhyming book. . . . Cheerfully light verse."—Publishers Weekly
"Brightly colored, humorous, and distinctive . . . a celebration of the animal world."—School Library Journal
Publishers Weekly
"This jaunty rhyming book explains how animal parents keep their young from getting eaten. Cheerfully light verse delivers the facts and bright cartoon artwork strikes a chipper note," said PW. Ages 3-7. (Apr.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Children's Literature
- Susan Hepler
Four-line rhymed text informs readers of the many ways eleven species of animals keep their young safe and warm. Cockroaches carry their egg sacs while tumblebugs roll their eggs in a dung ball. Everyone knows kangaroos have pouches but few may know that the Surinam toad keeps developing tadpoles in pockets on its back or the chichlid lets fry hide in its mouth. Both usual and unusual animal protection (kangaroos, killdeer and sloth) are presented with Aruego and Dewey's familiar cheerful style: accurately lined but with faces expressive of human emotions. The brightly colored backgrounds and animals show well during story hours and would work in thematic units where animal parenting is a topic. More information about each appears in the end matter.
School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 3Eleven different animal species are shown here, all keeping their babies or eggs safe in a variety of ingenious and wonderful ways. Insect, mammal, reptile, bird, and marsupial all exhibit protective behaviors. The cichlid hides her young in her mouth when danger threatens, the Surinam toad hatches eggs in holes on its back, tumblebugs hide their eggs in balls of dung, etc. Not all of the animal parents are motherstwo fathers, Emperor penguin and sea horse, demonstrate that careful parenting is not gender specific. The text consists of simple rhymes about each animal; more straightforward information is given in the back of the book, where descriptive paragraphs explain the nesting, egg-laying, or other behaviors of the creatures mentioned. The brightly colored, humorous, and distinctive illustrations turn what might otherwise be simply an interesting beginning science book into a celebration of the animal world. While younger children may be puzzled by the killdeer whose pretense of being wounded in order to distract a predator is better explained in the endnotes than in the text, and by the cichlid, who appears to be eating her babies, the book provides the simple reassurance that parents are protectors.Marian Drabkin, Richmond Public Library, CA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
