Animal Dads: An Informative Picture Book About Unique Parenting in Nature for Kids

by Sneed B. Collard III, Steve Jenkins (Illustrator)

This whimsical and intriguing picture book explores the different roles of fatherhood in the animal kingdom. Readers will learn about various animal dads and their many different parenting skills: baby-sitting - an emperor penguin dad watches over the eggs for nine weeks while the mother searches for food; hunting - a wolf dad leads the pack on hunting trips and brings meat for new pups to eat; giving birth - a seahorse mother's eggs hatch inside the dad's special belly pouch. Sneed Collard's concise, clear text and award-winning artist Steve Jenkins's informative cut-paper collages reveal unique tasks that animal dads perform in raising their offspring.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Nonfiction, Family, Childrens, Science, Nature

32 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 1997

About the author

Sneed B. Collard III (see also "Sneed B. Collard") is a biologist, world traveler, speaker, and author of almost one hundred books for young people, including the 2024 Orbis Pictus Award winner, Border Crossings (Charlesbridge Publishing). His other recent science titles include Fire Birds; Hopping Ahead of Climate Change; Little Killers; Waiting for a Warbler; Beaver & Otter Get Along . . . Sort of; and the upcoming picture book, Like No Other. Collard holds science degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and U.C. Santa Barbara. He lives in Montana.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the paper cut out illustrations and nonfiction information of the animals. I also liked the inclusion of fathers who give birth, which really ages well in a time of gender fluidity.

[Kyle Hamlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a cool way to view how dads do different things in nature and describes how different animals work and perform as dads. This book also has really interesting graphics with the different animals that are involved within the novel. I think that this story would be great for a fourth grade classroom as well as a third grade classroom.

[Kris Dersch · Rating 3 out of 5]

The facts are cool and the illustrations are fabulous, of course. I think assigning motive to animal parenting is always a little bit of a stretch and doing it in a book that purports to be nonfiction isn't my favorite thing. But there are definitely interesting facts about the way animal fathers behave.

[Jackie Spell · Rating 5 out of 5]

My second grade students loved this book. What an interesting way to show students different ways dads are involved with their offspring. They also loved pointing out the similarities in the illustrations compared to other books Steve Jenkins illustrated.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning about what different animal dads do for their families.

[Y.Poston]

beautiful artwork &
very informative and fun

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

We don’t often hear about animal dads, so this a welcome addition! As others have noted, including dads that give birth keeps this book feeling current with the growing awareness of gender fluidity.

[Ariza · Rating 5 out of 5]

An appreciation towards father figures. Explores what certain animal dads do for their young in the wild.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really nice 'information without being in your face' book for little guys. It tells true facts about Dad animals how they care for their baby animals. the way it's written it has two different lines so you can read all of it to your little one or one. if the more in detailed one is to much for your little one they won't be missing out; but if they are old enough to understand more than just the basic stuff then you can read all the text. The illustrations are great as well.

[Sophie Gray]

This book is both an informative book as well as a book of spiritual meaning. Using animals as the characters in the book, it displays the fatherhood of the animal kingdom. Instead of a firm story line, the author formatted the book in a way that each animal was given its own informative background and story, which all came together as a book. Comparing how each of the animals fathers display their affection and families style gives each of the different animals their own character. I learned about several different animals in the kingdom and how their works of their father play out. Knowing the excitement that children get when it comes to animals, I believe that this book would catch their attention very well. They would be gaining knowledge of the animals and their different ways that the family works, as well as receiving the message of the significance of a father or male figure in ones life.

[Christine Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book would be best read one-on-one. The content may encourage many questions that you would not want to answer in storytime.

This whimsical and intriguing picture book explores the different roles of fatherhood in the animal kingdom. Readers will learn about various animal dads and their many different parenting skills: baby-sitting - an emperor penguin dad watches over the eggs for nine weeks while the mother searches for food; hunting - a wolf dad leads the pack on hunting trips and brings meat for new pups to eat; giving birth - a seahorse mother's eggs hatch inside the dad's special belly pouch. Sneed Collard's concise, clear text and award-winning artist Steve Jenkins's informative cut-paper collages reveal unique tasks that animal dads perform in raising their offspring.

This would be a good pairing with : Mister Seahorse / Eric Carle.

[Ashley Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book. I picked it up at a Vendor's Mall on a whim and will definitely save it to use if I end up teaching kindergarten through third graders. There aren't enough examples of good, caring dads in most children's books that I can think of, and this one is ripe with examples, and very informative about animals as well (I learned several facts from reading it - like that the male penguin actually keeps the penguin egg warm until it hatches, while the female searches for food). The illustrations are also really nice - vivid and texturized. Reminds me a bit of Eric Carle, but more understated.

My only complaint is that a text/dark background conbination makes a few pages more difficult to read.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collard, Sneed B., and Steve Jenkins. Animal Dads. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997. Print.:
Summary: This is a good book for elementary students of all ages. This book can be read aloud to beginning or non-readers or can be read by students themselves. The book describes the roles and responsibilities of male animals. These are very similar to human fathers including the fact that some dads just go away. This is a good book to read around Father 19s Day. I recommend this book as a read aloud to 2nd graders and under.
Ridiculously Simple Synopsis: There are many types of fathers.
Curriculum Connection: Students can talk about and write about families.
Reading Level: Elementary
Genre: non-fiction

[Kristina Arnold]

Many times it is believed that the mother is the only one who takes care of her young and this is believed for all speices. However in many instances this is not the case and you may have a child who is being raised by a single dad who is having a hard time accepting that he doesn't have a mother or the other students are having a hard time and this is a good book to read to show that he or she is not the only one in that situation and it is perfectly normal to be raised by just a father.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Animal Dads is a great children's book by Sneed B. Collard III. He takes the idea of what Dad's do and then for each action, he tells what an animal does. For example: They build us homes to live in is illustrated by the stickleback male fish who builds the nest, fertilizes the eggs, runs the female off, and guards the nest and protects the babies when they hatch. it is a fun book to read aloud and kids don't know they are learning not only about animals but science, too.

[Sherry Thornberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pictures in this book were amazing. They are done in a "scrap paper" type fashion. I like the story also because its more informational in that it tells what different animal fathers do in the wild to care for the family and the young. Some of them have jobs like human dads and some have jobs that may surprise a reader. This book makes animals seem more capable of emotion than we tend to think which is good.

[James Vickery · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has an animal to human connection. This book shares the many roles that different dads have based on the particular animal. This books serves as the purpose of relaying to the reader that moms are not the only ones that care for their babies. Dads make several choices and play many roles in making sure their children are healthy as well.

[Shaundell · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book! Many books are dedicated to mothers and what they do. This is a good reminder of what fathers do in order to take care of their young. A good book to read before Father's Day or to give away as a gift.

[Greta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who new all the caretaking responsibilities of males in the animal kingdom... I certainly didn't. This book is interesting.My students (particularily my boys) were fascinated with this.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a nice way to remind children how their dads take care of them too, while learning about animals. Masterful illustrations.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book to use when discussing adding details.

[Alicia Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful, colorful pictures and great information. Used this as part of my homeschool science curriculum. Very unique.

[Helen Jeffries · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book to teach the note taking strategy Dash Facts.

[Chelsea Kimmey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book that can be used to teach students how to take notes. Using the dash facts strategy

[Lauren White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome books about the role of fathers for many different species.

[GoDSpeeD_GDS · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's OK. I liked the story and thought some of the information was good to learn. Darwinism?

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little informational book with wonderful illustrations.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect book to read before Father's day.