Kids love books about animals or with animals in them. Today I am sharing three books that are animal themed. They include one board book and two picture books (both released today). We will start with the board book. It is Peekaboo Zoo by Rod Campbell. It is recommended for ages baby to 2.
From the Publisher:
This oversized, flap-filled board book taking young readers on a zoo adventure is Rod Campbell’s follow-up to his beloved classic Dear Zoo!Little hands will delight in pulling aside big flaps to play peekaboo with the animals at the zoo in this delightful board book.
From Me:
This is a fun and simple book. The animals at the zoo want to play peekaboo with the reader. Most of the pages say which animal is on the page and there is a flap to open and see the animal. The animals all say "Peekaboo!" The flaps are thinner and may rip if pulled too hard to many times. However, I see young kids loving this book. They will love checking out each of the animals and it will be a fun book for a caregiver to read and discuss the various animals in it. For more zoo books and activities check out here.
Our next book is a book about narwhals. It is Narwhal Unicorn of the Arctic by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Deena So'Oteh. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.
From the Publisher:
You are a narwhal.
Shy... Swift... Small...
Humans call you unicorn of the Arctic.
When winter ice covers the Arctic Ocean, a narwhal pokes his head through a patch of open water, his tusk--a six-foot long tooth--pointed to the sky.
Join this mammal as he jousts with another narwhal, floats with his pod, and uses echolocation to find his prey. When warmer weather arrives, he will migrate towards summer ground. But he must be careful! Predators--orcas and polar bears--will be hungry and looking for a meal.... How will the narwhal escape? Will he be able to return to the winter bay?
Paired with atmospheric illustrations by debut illustrator Deena So'Oteh, nonfiction master Candace Fleming delivers a picture book, uniquely told in second person, that expertly explores the mysterious and fascinating unicorn of the Arctic.
From Me:
This book is beautiful. It shares information about narwhals and their life in the Arctic. I will admit I didn't know too much about narwhals. For example, I didn't know the females usually do not have horns. It is not surprising to hear, but it is something I didn't know. Narwhals seem to be extremely popular lately, so this book is a great way to introduce the animal and give early elementary students information about these animals.
The book shares the life of the narwhal including the journey to their summer home as well as the possibility of being eaten by orcas. There is even a time where they get stuck in the ice and have to find an escape to get air. It shares the dangers as well as the wonders of their life and of the animals themselves. At the end of the book there is more information about narwhals for those who want to learn more or for the adult reading to the kids. This book is perfect for a classroom for learning about narwhals as well as story time. It could be used in an ocean animal unit or Arctic unit. The illustrations are beautiful, and the words are informative and fun.
Our final book is I Quit by Kristen Tracy and illustrated by Frederico Fabiani. It is recommended for ages 3 to 6.
From the Publisher:
When kitty first got adopted, everything was purr-fect.
Then came the rules. NO eating the bread! NO chasing the baby! BAD KITTY! Excuse me? She’s not a bad kitty. Left with no choice, she says goodbye to everything she loves (even her favorite crinkled-up receipt) and quits!
But kitty's adventure in the great outdoors doesn't go as planned, and she realizes that she may have made a few mistakes. She knows she can do better, but how can she get home? Would her family even want her back?
A laugh-out-loud picture book perfect for anyone who has ever had that "I quit!" feeling.
From Me:
This book is about a cat who doesn't like the rules of his home and decides to leave it. He quickly discovers how hard life is on his own and wants to return home. Luckily his owner is also missing him and looking for him. It is a fun book about how much our pets depend on us as well as how much we love them. Instead of a book review, it was suggested we share some of our own pets quitting stories!
Have you ever had a pet quit? As an adult I have shared my home with five cats. My first cat, Simba, had a few escape moments. The first was when I decided he needed to have some outdoor time. I put him in a harness and on a leash. I needed to run inside for a moment and tied his leash to something. When I came out, I found the harness empty. However, when I went to look for him, Simba was laying on the door stoop. He also escaped a different apartment another time. He wanted to investigate under the deck. He stayed out for a longer than I was comfortable with, but he came back in on his own.
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| Our Pumpkin and Simba |
Our next cat was Pumpkin. We got her before getting pregnant so Simba would understand he was not the only cat/person in our lives. Our cats love going in our garage and one day Pumpkin was in the garage when the door to the outside was open. We went searching for her. I found her on the top of the outside stairs to our family room waiting to get back in.
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| Fluffy |
After we lost Simba, we adopted Fluffy. That summer Hazel told me she wanted to change Simba's name to Fluffy after seeing a cat on Elmo's World named Fluffy. I explained to her that Simba was named Simba for 17 years so we weren't going to change it, but our next cat could be named Fluffy. We went to the shelter and there was a kitten already named Fluffy. We saw as a sign that she was ours. When she was a kitten, she got out one Halloween night. I share her escape story here. She has never tried to go outside again.
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| Midnight and Fidget |
After we lost Pumpkin, we adopted Fidget. Fidget has not escaped and always runs away from the door when we open it. A year later Hazel talked us into adopting a third cat and we adopted Midnight. The two boys instantly became besties. Midnight also runs away from open doors. However, our rabbit has escaped her cage. Lady Marmalade loves to explore the house. One night in the first week we had her one of her doors didn't get latched and she got out during the night. Midnight actually came and woke me up and got me to follow him to where she was. Every time she gets out of her cage he reacts. It is so cute!
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| Lady Marmalade |
So if you have an animal lover in your house you should definitely check out these books. If you have someone who threatens to quit, perhaps they would enjoy I Quit and remember why family and home are so important.
