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Step-Up Books
Reptiles do the Strangest Things
A great book that parents could read for kids and also includes fun trivia!!
60 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1970
2 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 20, 2020
About the Step-Up Books
Published in the 1960s and 1970s, they serve as a follow up series for students who have surpassed the reading level of the I Can Read books. They are simply narrated and have short sentences. They are broken into chapters that consist of about three pages usually. Pictures are throughout.
For the reading level that this is geared for, they are written well. I enjoyed the stories and the facts I learned from them. A good source for additional reading material for your beginning reader and good books to use to graduate your child from picture books to something more substantial.
Ages: 5+
Reading Level: 2nd - 3rd grades
Pages: approx. 50-90
How many titles: 38
Illustrations: full of illustrations and photographs
Price Range: $2 – $40 depending on the title and its rarity.
Cleanliness: mentions dinosaurs living millions of years ago.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! You’ll see my updates as I’m reading and know which books I’m liking and what I’m not finishing and why. You’ll also be able to utilize my library for looking up titles to see whether the book you’re thinking about reading next has any objectionable content or not. From swear words, to romance, to bad attitudes (in children’s books), I cover it all!
Published in the 1960s and 1970s, they serve as a follow up series for students who have surpassed the reading level of the I Can Read books. They are simply narrated and have short sentences. They are broken into chapters that consist of about three pages usually. Pictures are throughout.
For the reading level that this is geared for, they are written well. I enjoyed the stories and the facts I learned from them. A good source for additional reading material for your beginning reader and good books to use to graduate your child from picture books to something more substantial.
Ages: 5+
Reading Level: 2nd - 3rd grades
Pages: approx. 50-90
How many titles: 38
Illustrations: full of illustrations and photographs
Price Range: $2 – $40 depending on the title and its rarity.
Cleanliness: mentions dinosaurs living millions of years ago.
**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide a Cleanliness Report, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!
So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! You’ll see my updates as I’m reading and know which books I’m liking and what I’m not finishing and why. You’ll also be able to utilize my library for looking up titles to see whether the book you’re thinking about reading next has any objectionable content or not. From swear words, to romance, to bad attitudes (in children’s books), I cover it all!
April 7, 2019
Starts off with the old "brontosaurus had to wade in water" position that was later rejected, but for the most part, this is filled with useful information for a child interested in reptiles. Another picky fault is that in listing the existing kinds of reptiles, it omits Amphisbaenia (worm lizards).
After addressing the singular tuatara in 2 pages, crocodilians get 6 pages, snakes get a total of 14, all the turtles get 12, and the rest are lizards of varying sizes and abilities. These are presented in an informal manner that is interesting and engaging. It's almost sure that kids will learn of something new.
In terms of truth in advertising, it's pretty good. Puffing steam through noses, squirting blood from eyes, growing three tails, tongues longer than bodies, walking on water, etc.
After addressing the singular tuatara in 2 pages, crocodilians get 6 pages, snakes get a total of 14, all the turtles get 12, and the rest are lizards of varying sizes and abilities. These are presented in an informal manner that is interesting and engaging. It's almost sure that kids will learn of something new.
In terms of truth in advertising, it's pretty good. Puffing steam through noses, squirting blood from eyes, growing three tails, tongues longer than bodies, walking on water, etc.
October 28, 2019
It was weird. Egg eater was my favorite. it sounded gross
October 3, 2009
This book and all the other "...Do the Strangest Things" books have saved my life in the what-will-my-six-year-old-boy-read department. They're just a bit more challenging than I Can Read-type books, and full of fun trivia that kids love. I took off one star because there's some dated information (including what must be a Jaws-inspired warning about sharks), but overall, these older books are a great fit for my almost-there reader.
August 20, 2024
Honestly this kid's book is well written and interesting, the problem is that MANY of the facts are now wrong. Starting right out the gate
3. Brontosaurus- likely wasn't primarily a wading dinosaur, it's feet support a more terrestrial lifestyle.
8. Crocodilians - "she comes back often to fix the nest," female alligators actually guard and protect their nests. I do like that this section mentions the inhumaneness of alligator farms and also the pet trade, I was really impressed by the inclusion of that in a book from the 70s.
16. Rattlesnake - this section is actually pretty good though a common issue in this book is that it doesn't always recognize that there are many species of these animals. Today there are 32 recognized rattlesnake species. Also, while they do recognize that the snake "poison" is actually venom, it's not poison at all so using this word perpetuates a incorrect word usage that many people mess up.
Side note for the snakes, "babies like to play with snakes and pat their shiny skins" is a really weird comment.
20. Hognose are venomous. However they are "rear-fanged" meaning that their venom is located at the back of their mouth which makes it hard to bite something as large as a human and have any affect. However it is still dangerous to call them non-venomous, in particular because some people can be more affected by the venom
29. Box turtles do NOT make good pets. At least not wild ones. They should NOT be taken from the wild to be kept as pets, and in fact have become endangered in many of their original areas because of people taking them (as well as from habitat loss and roadways). Box turtles have a strong sense of "home" and often when stolen from the wild will spend their time trying to walk in an attempt to find their way home. Turtles who have been taken and spit back out into the wild into an area they don't know typically die in their search to find their original home range.
32. Many tortoises can flip themselves over not just the pancake tortoise. Additionally many species of tortoise and turtle will use the "puff themselves up" inside a crevice so they can't be reached method.
33. It is considered inhumane to ride giant tortoise today. Their shell is their backbone and adding additional and unnecessary pressure to their backs is not good for them. At this time, the longest living tortoise is Jonathan who is 191 years old in 2024.
34. Another section where only one of the seven species of sea turtle is mentioned; green turtles are but one species. Most of the section about sea turtle nesting is correct which was fantastic. An update in science however is that it's no longer considered proper to say young sea turtles "just know" where to go, they actually follow the light of the moon reflecting on the ocean. This is why unnatural lights in sea turtle nesting areas can be a huge risk to the little turtles, who can head off in the wrong direction and risk the dangers of being out of the water longer in doing so. Also it isn't "lucky... that the mother turtle lays so many eggs," they particularly evolved that way because of the risk of survival. Something else I believe this book would hit a bit harder in today's day and age is that only 1/1000 sea turtles make it to adulthood; this is no longer due to natural reasons but largely due to different human related impacts across the turtles slow growing life stages. It takes a green sea turtle 20 to 30 years to be sexually mature.
41. Not all species of gecko can lose their tail.
54. The term "American chameleon" is a dying term that was typically used for Green anoles in the pet trade in the past. These lizards are not true chameleons and they are not in the same group of lizards as them.
And those were just the inaccuracies I could recognize, they could potentially be more relating to the species I don't know too much about.
3. Brontosaurus- likely wasn't primarily a wading dinosaur, it's feet support a more terrestrial lifestyle.
8. Crocodilians - "she comes back often to fix the nest," female alligators actually guard and protect their nests. I do like that this section mentions the inhumaneness of alligator farms and also the pet trade, I was really impressed by the inclusion of that in a book from the 70s.
16. Rattlesnake - this section is actually pretty good though a common issue in this book is that it doesn't always recognize that there are many species of these animals. Today there are 32 recognized rattlesnake species. Also, while they do recognize that the snake "poison" is actually venom, it's not poison at all so using this word perpetuates a incorrect word usage that many people mess up.
Side note for the snakes, "babies like to play with snakes and pat their shiny skins" is a really weird comment.
20. Hognose are venomous. However they are "rear-fanged" meaning that their venom is located at the back of their mouth which makes it hard to bite something as large as a human and have any affect. However it is still dangerous to call them non-venomous, in particular because some people can be more affected by the venom
29. Box turtles do NOT make good pets. At least not wild ones. They should NOT be taken from the wild to be kept as pets, and in fact have become endangered in many of their original areas because of people taking them (as well as from habitat loss and roadways). Box turtles have a strong sense of "home" and often when stolen from the wild will spend their time trying to walk in an attempt to find their way home. Turtles who have been taken and spit back out into the wild into an area they don't know typically die in their search to find their original home range.
32. Many tortoises can flip themselves over not just the pancake tortoise. Additionally many species of tortoise and turtle will use the "puff themselves up" inside a crevice so they can't be reached method.
33. It is considered inhumane to ride giant tortoise today. Their shell is their backbone and adding additional and unnecessary pressure to their backs is not good for them. At this time, the longest living tortoise is Jonathan who is 191 years old in 2024.
34. Another section where only one of the seven species of sea turtle is mentioned; green turtles are but one species. Most of the section about sea turtle nesting is correct which was fantastic. An update in science however is that it's no longer considered proper to say young sea turtles "just know" where to go, they actually follow the light of the moon reflecting on the ocean. This is why unnatural lights in sea turtle nesting areas can be a huge risk to the little turtles, who can head off in the wrong direction and risk the dangers of being out of the water longer in doing so. Also it isn't "lucky... that the mother turtle lays so many eggs," they particularly evolved that way because of the risk of survival. Something else I believe this book would hit a bit harder in today's day and age is that only 1/1000 sea turtles make it to adulthood; this is no longer due to natural reasons but largely due to different human related impacts across the turtles slow growing life stages. It takes a green sea turtle 20 to 30 years to be sexually mature.
41. Not all species of gecko can lose their tail.
54. The term "American chameleon" is a dying term that was typically used for Green anoles in the pet trade in the past. These lizards are not true chameleons and they are not in the same group of lizards as them.
And those were just the inaccuracies I could recognize, they could potentially be more relating to the species I don't know too much about.
May 16, 2019
Oh, this was such a favorite book! Just seeing the cover again after all these years throws me back to my childhood glee at the idea of a lizard catching things with its long tongue. I remember thinking I hoped I would someday see a giant iguana, which I have since done multiple times. This book fed my interest in catching lizards, which I loved doing with my dad. What good memories!
April 6, 2018
We read this over a few months' time for our year 1 (1st grade) Charlotte Mason homeschool.
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November 23, 2020pinjem archive.org
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November 23, 2020pinjam archive.org
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December 15, 2013AR Quiz No. 8435 EN Nonfiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: LG - BL: 3.5 - AR Pts: 1.0
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP, VP
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: LG - BL: 3.5 - AR Pts: 1.0
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP, VP
February 6, 2021
Read review of "Birds Do the Strangest Things".
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews