What's the Difference?: 10 Animal Look-Alikes

by Judy Diehl, David Plumb

What's the difference between a butterfly and a moth? A frog and a toad? An alligator and a crocodile? Curious kids will enjoy discovering the differences between animals that frequently confuse us. What's the Difference? compares ten animal pairs, from insects to mammals. While both tortoises and turtles are shelled reptiles, a tortoise has sturdy, elephant-like feet for walking on land, while a turtle swims using flippers. Cheetahs and leopards are both large, spotted cats; one difference is that cheetahs have long legs and run very fast, while leopards count on their stealth to sneak up behind their prey.

24 pages, Paperback

First published September 2, 2000

Reviews

[Lyndsay-ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I know I'm an adult reading a book for children, so maybe my expectations where too high for a book meant for educating children.

I found that the authors dumbed it down a little too much, while at the same time trying not to. This just made the book confusing and scattered. They would jump from one topic to the next within a paragraph and between paragraphs. This book also contradicted itself. Two of the animals it compares are mules and donkeys. It starts off with the implication that these are two different species, but later says a mules comes from a female horse and male donkey. This should have been the first thing said. But saying this, why would they compare these two animals when one is the product of the other? You can't really compare a donkey with a mule, like are two different species, when a mule is half donkey.

I liked that they had side by side comparison pictures of each animal, but they were too cartoony, and you couldn't really see the differences they were talking about.

I put 2 stars due to the fact there was a couple things I have not known before, so I did learn a little bit from this book.