3 Fun Animal Books from Candlewick Press

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copies of these book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own, and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Now I will admit we LOVE animal books and especially ones that are non fiction. Candlewick Press sent us three of these type of books to add to our collection. All three are in the style of some of the other amazing animal books we have reviewed from them (Bees, Emus, Hippos, Elephants, Big Red Kangaroo). This is a style we really love. It tells the story of an animal and then has side notes with facts about the animal. The first book we are sharing is Otters Love to Play by Jonathan London and illustrated by Meilo So.
 

 This fun book came out in March. It is about North American Otters which we love to check out at our local zoo (click pictures for links to original posts). 

 When Hazel was younger we took some parent/child classes at our local zoo. We learned some tricks to waking the otters at the zoo. Otters Love to Play takes the reader through the first year of some otter pups lives. It shares where they live, what they eat, who their predators are and so much more and of course how much they love to play. This book shares so much information about otters in such a fun way. The illustrations are beautiful as well. The pages are colorful and give the sense of playfulness as well as the seriousness when needed.

 In the picture above the otters are jumping in fall leaves and one is rolling around holding a found treasure--a pebble. Remind you of anyone you might know?

Our second book is Platypus by Sue Whiting and illustrated by Mark Jackson.  This book was released in February. This book of course takes us to Australia. I have to admit that Hazel was quizzing me on platypus facts as we read this book. She learned many of them from watching Wild Kratts.

 Now the truth is Hazel has been a bit fascinated by platypuses. Perhaps it is because of her Australian pen pal. This story shares the mystery of the platypus or at least the mystery of the first Europeans seeing one. The book talks about the different parts of the platypus body as well as the environment where they live. The story is about a platypus foraging for his dinner and the adventure it takes him on. Platypuses are nocturnal and are always on the move when out of their burrows. Once again this book provides so much information (which was good for me with Hazel quizzing me). It has illustrations that allow the reader to envision the environment and life of this unique animal.

 It is fun to use to explore Australia a bit more than we have from our home. We have explored a bit of Australia from home with other great books from Candlewick Press on animals and a panoramic pop up.

Our final book for today is Python by Christopher Cheng and Mark Jackson. Now I will admit I am not a big fan of snakes, but I have not told Hazel this fact. My mother-in-law has shared her hatred of snakes with Hazel so I have been trying to counter that. I figured knowing more about snakes would help us and thus this book is perfect for us to understand more about them.

 In this book a female python looks for her meal. It discusses their need for heat from the environment as well as the need to molt. There are several attempts on a meal and most escape. Then she goes back to her nest to protect and warm her eggs. It also explains how she does not come back to the nest after the babies begin to hatch. This book focuses on the Diamond Python which also lives in Australia.

 
 Again the illustrations are gorgeous and bring the reader to the environment. The details are amazing. I love how the pictures are lifelike but not too scary. Picking out a book on snakes is always iffy for me since I don't want Hazel to be afraid of them.

All three books end with a page about the animal. It shares where the animals are found and the specifics about the particular species shard in the book as well as even more facts about the animal. These books are fun and informative and make nonfiction books easier to read to young children. I hope you will check them out!!