Looking for Jaguar: And Other Rain Forest Poems

by Susan Katz, Lee Christiansen (Illustrations)

Looking for Jaguar takes you on an expedition through the world's rain forests. In Costa Rica you will trek across a jungle in the clouds. In Brazil you will canoe among treetops. In Belize you will stand in the spattering rain listening to howler monkeys roar. In Borneo you will cling to a rope bridge high in the canopy. And what will you see? Astonishing Astonishing -- and true!

Genres: Poetry, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

Susan Katz is the Camp Fire Girl on the left in the photo, which is what she still looks like on the inside. On the outside, she's morphed into the author of eight children's books.

Her first book was a middle-grade novel, SNOWDROPS FOR COUSIN RUTH, winner of the Paterson Prize and a Publishers' Weekly Flying Start honor.

Her most recent books are THE PRESIDENT'S STUCK IN THE BATHTUB (Clarion Books, Feb., 2012), a Junior Library Guild selection, and the humorous science-fiction e-book, FLAT LIKE FRED. story of the boy who saved the Earth from alien tadpoles and the planet Bovine (where the cow who jumped over the moon landed) from its terrible mouse-elephant rampages.

Her picture book. OH, THEODORE! was an Oprah Pick, winner of a Utah Beehive Award and a Texas 2 x 2 Award, as well as a selection of the New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing.

WHEN THE SHADBUSH BLOOMS, co-authored with Carla Messinger - the story of two Lenni Lenape girls living through the round of the seasons, one in modern times and one in historical times - was a finalist for a National Children's Choice Book award.

Currently she's working on the final stages of a new children's novel, THE UNKNOWN LAND, and a collection of poems about Theodore Roosevelt and his six children, ARCHIE AND QUENTIN, Poems of a White House Childhood.

Reviews

[Ember Moto · Rating 2 out of 5]

Liked the illustrations in this one better than most of the poems.

[Madelyn Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personal Reaction:
I thought this poetry book was decent. I personally enjoyed the combination of poetry while exploring the rain forest of Coast Rica. I think illustrations help the mood of the poems, by having the association of darker colors with snakes compared to a more loved animal such as chameleon with lighter green colors.

Purpose:
The narrative poems share insight on different animals in the jungle. The poems are mostly free verse and uses appropriate figurative language for students in 4th and 5th grade. I think students could read this independently or a teacher could use this in biology lessons.

[Ryan Treaster · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book takes you all over through the rain forests. Throughout the rain forests, there are many things and animals. This book has poems that relate to things in the rain forest.

Reading Level- Transitional( Some challenging words)
Curricular Uses- Independent reading
Literary elements- all about poetry

[Fisal Ansari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Age:
Grades 5-13

Genre:
Poetry /Informational

Diversity
Rainforests, Latin America, South America.

Illustrations:
Lots of greens and drawings of rain forest.

Personal response:
Great book on the rain forest. I learned a great deal about the different animals.

Curricular or programming connections:
Great lesson about rain forests

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for a unit on the rainforest. Love the illustrations and the poems.