Glow: Animals with Their Own Night-Lights

The stunning photographs featured in W.H. Beck’s new book, Glow: Animals with Their Own Night-Lights, will immediately catch the interest of a wide range of young readers. The book starts out by introducing and defining bioluminescence, the process that allows some living things to make their own light. Then, each page shows a gorgeous photo of a glowing animal on an all-black background and provides information about how bioluminescence helps that animal survive.

One thing that I particularly love about this book is that the text caters to a wide audience. Each page has a short sentence in a larger print that gives a simple description of that animal’s reason for glowing. For older, more advanced readers, there’s also a longer, in-depth explanation. For instance, on a page featuring a picture of a jewel squid, the short sentence says: “They glow to hide.” The longer description reads: “Many ocean creatures, such as the jewel squid, use counter-illumination. They can adjust their lights so that their undersides match the sunlight above the water. Then the fish hunting them from below can’t see them.” So, depending on the age of your audience, you can read the easy text, the difficult text, or some combination of both.

This is a neat, informative book that will be a hit with the most curious of kids!

If an Elephant Went to School

For those of you with animal-loving little ones at home, I’ve got just the book for you! If an Elephant Went to School, by Ellen Fischer, is an adorable and surprisingly informative story. The book features several different animals and asks about what they might learn if they were to go to school. The prediction is always something that a child might learn at school, and that’s followed up with interesting information about that animal: “If a zebra trotted into a schoolroom, what would he learn? The days of the week? DOUBTFUL. A zebra would learn how to sleep standing up. WITHOUT A PILLOW!” Besides finding out that zebras sleep standing up (I thought that was just flamingos!), the book also reveals that eels can swim backward, frogs catch bugs with their tongues, owls clean and groom their feathers using their beaks, and much more.

In addition to providing some great information on animals, this book is a subtle introduction to what school is like, ending with a kid saying: “If I went to school, what would I learn? How to change colors like a chameleon? NO WAY! I would learn to…READ, WRITE, SHARE, and MAKE FRIENDS. What would YOU learn?” Check out this silly, informative, and fun conversation-starter! And if you like it, you’re likely to enjoy Fischer’s earlier book, If an Armadillo Went to a Restaurant.

Creature Features: 25 Animals Explain Why They Look the Way They Do

If your children are curious, I’ve got just the book for you! Creature Features: 25 Animals Explain Why They Look the Way They Do by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page is a fun look at why some animals have strange and interesting physical characteristics. Each page features a beautifully drawn (but not always beautiful…) animal, a question for that animal, and its response. For instance, on one page there’s a frilled lizard. The question states: “Dear frilled lizard: What are you wearing around your neck?” The frilled lizard’s response is: “That’s my frill—extra skin that I unfurl when I feel pretty threatened. Pretty scary, isn’t it?” Not only are there some really neat, lesser-known animals to admire and learn about, there are also tons of great, new vocabulary words. You and your inquisitive kiddos will love it!

Weird & Wild Animal Facts

Did you know that a penny is heavier than a hummingbird? Were you aware that an adult giraffe’s kick is powerful enough to decapitate a lion? How about the fact that naked mole rats can run backward and forward equally fast? These are all fun facts (Ok, maybe the giraffe one isn’t fun, but it sure is interesting!) that can be found in our new book, Weird & Wild Animal Facts by Jessica Loy.

Reading books like this one, with incredible photographs and fascinating information, is a great way to get your kids excited about reading non-fiction books, which are great vocabulary-boosters and curiosity-builders. Some non-fiction books, like this one, help to pique kids’ interests about certain subjects. For instance, if there’s one particular animal fact that they find really interesting, they might want to check out other, more in-depth books about that animal. From there, they might find a particular series of animal books or author that they love and then branch out even further into non-fiction.

If you want to start reading some non-fiction with your kids and don’t know where to start, we’re always happy to help steer you in the right direction; just ask!

I Don't Want to Be a Frog

The grass (or lily pad?) is always greener on the other side. At least that’s what the little frog thinks in Dev Petty’s new book, I Don’t Want to Be a Frog. For this little guy, being a frog is too wet, too slimy, and includes far too much bug-eating. He tells his dad that he’d rather be a cat, a rabbit, a pig, or an owl, but his rather sensible father comes up with reasons why these are some pretty bad ideas.

His dad insists that he can’t be a cat because he’s a frog (I told you he was sensible…). And, even though he can hop like a rabbit, he’s missing long ears. Being a pig would work out just fine if he had a curly tail or an interest in eating garbage, but this frog has no such luck. Finally, even though being an owl is “the greatest thing ever,” the dad makes a list of reasons why this is not possible: “1. You don’t have wings. 2. You don’t look wise. 3. You can’t turn your head all the way around. 4. YOU ARE A FROG.”

The father-son pair is then visited by a big wolf that, hearing about the little frog’s wishes, lets him in on his own little secret. He tells him that while he LOVES eating cats, rabbits, pigs, and owls, he does not eat wet, slimy, full-of-bugs frogs. Maybe being a frog isn’t so bad after all…

1 to 20, Animals Aplenty

This adorably illustrated new addition to our counting books will be a hit with kids of all ages. In 1 to 20, Animals Aplenty by Katie Viggers, each number is represented by a group of animals either doing or wearing something silly that rhymes with the animal name, like “5 goats wearing coats” or “16 chickens reading Dickens.” In addition to the number recognition, counting, and rhyming practice that the book provides, there is a ton of great information about the animals. On several pages, next to the pictures of the animals, are the names of those particular species of animal. For instance, the shark page shows gray reef, hammerhead, blue, and great white sharks. The same is done on pages featuring goats, baboons, pigs, bears, cats, kangaroos, dogs, badgers, and birds. By the time you’re done with this one, your kids will be animal experts, as well as little counting and rhyming machines! J

Don't

If you know me, you know that I LOVE silly books. They are my absolute favorite ones to read to kids. So, when I opened Don’t, by Litsa Trochatos, it became an instant hit for me. As a little added bonus, this new favorite is as informative and discussion-provoking as it is hilarious.

Don’t features several warnings, advising the reader on what not to do with certain animals. One page says: “Don’t start a food fight with an octopus.” When you turn to the next page, you find a little kid losing the battle quite definitively, with the words: “It has six more arms than you do.” Another page warns: “Don’t play hide-and-seek with a chameleon. It can hide very, very well.”

Besides the funny text and even funnier pictures, you and your child will be provided with loads of topics to discuss. Some of the animals might be new ones for your little one, like cheetah and chameleon. But even if the animals are all familiar ones, you’ll be able to discuss their characteristics that the book identifies, like these: penguins can’t fly; bears hibernate; frogs have long tongues.

If you’re in the market for a silly and surprisingly informative read, come in and check out Don’t today!