Reviews

Animal Mischief
Rob Jackson
Illustrations by Laura Jacobsen
    The author is a biologist and he has created a series of poems about animals that are full of fun and even silly made-up words. His poem "Follow the Leader" explains that an ant leaves a trail of chemicals so that other ants can find food. The facts are made really amusing by Jacobsen's drawing of an ant traveling from a table of sweets to a potted plant and then across the body of a sleeping dog--that is the image that will stick in kids' minds and help them remember the facts. In "Starfish" readers will learn that this creature is really an echinoderm and that it consumes food by turning its stomach inside out. Sounds gross, but there is plenty of information in this brief poem, and humor in the picture of the crab looking like it is going to end up as dinner for this starfish. How can you remember which type of camel has one hump and which two-just memorize the last two lines of the poems entitled "Camels." Teachers can use this book in many ways-as part of a science lesson, as a way to get kids thinking about animals and some of their humorous actions or appearances, as a literary exercise to write poems of their own and accompany them with a drawing, or to simply post an interesting poem on the board each and every day, not just during National Poetry month. 2006, Boyds Mills Press, Ages 3 up, $15.95. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 1-59078-254-2

Source: ChildrensLit.com

Animal Mischief