Saturday, 5 September 2009

Ask Dr K Fisher about Animals, by Claire Llewellyn and Kate Sheppard


August 2007, Kingfisher Publications
32 pages, Hardcover
Review copy

Ease of reading: 5/5
Level of information: 5/5
Pencils: 5/5
Smiles: 4/5
Yunaleska's recommended rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

I remember when I was little how much I loved books where information about animals could be found. Although this is a few years old, I requested it because it looked fun. Looks didn't disappoint me!

Everything about Ask Dr K About Animals is jam packed with brightly coloured pages full of information, some of which I didn't know about - I had no idea there were so many types of ladybirds.

The topics approached in the book are:

  • How crocodiles rear their young (in their mouths)
  • Life of a frog, from tadpole to adulthood (has me thinking of collecting frogspawn at school)
  • Life cycles: A dragonfly and a butterfly (both start off rather differently to the end result)
  • Weaverbirds and nest building (expertise comes with practice)
  • The reason behind a giraffe's long neck (it didn't get pulled that way by a monkey)
  • Feeding: what different animals eat (not just each other)
  • Why mackeral remain in shoals (solitude will lead to death)
  • Ladybirds and their spots (including water ladybirds)
  • Different warning signs on animals (no, they don't hold signs up)
  • The perils of life as a male orb-web spider (don't mess with the females if you want to live)
  • The peace loving rabbit (who wants the world to turn vegetarian)
  • Food chains (it's an animal eat animal eat plant world)
  • Meals for dung beetles (sadly someone has to eat their food)
The information is presented in short, digestible chunks making it easy for children to learn. I also think that a fair number of the issues covered can be a second message for children: that everyone is different, we all have different customs, changes as we grow up are normal and shouldn't be anything to be frightened about.

Buy from Amazon.uk and Amazon.com
Buy from Borders.uk (different cover) and Borders.com

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