Secrets of the Rain Forest

Shine-a-Light Books

by Carron Brown, Alyssa Nassner (Illustrator)

Discover the animals and plants that live in and around a kapok tree, from the colorful parrots in the canopy to the sleek jaguar on the forest floor. This engaging non-fiction title will stimulate a love of the natural world as the vivacity of the rain forest is revealed through the bold and colorful artwork, and clever “see-through” pages.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Nature, Science, Animals, Nonfiction, 1st Grade

36 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Peter]

This non-fiction book in the “Shine-A-Light” series is a unique journey into the world of a South American rain forest, from the canopy to the forest floor. Each page focuses on unique animals or plants in the forest, and the relationships among them. It includes trees, vines, flowers, snakes, primates, insects, birds, tapirs, jaguars and more. The narrative text invites readers to explore hidden images that are illuminated as silhouettes when a reader shines a flashlight, phone or lamp on the back of each page. This inventive book is an educational introduction to an exciting and exotic habitat.

Activity: A rain forest is a unique example of a habitat that is only found in a few places throughout the world. Many of the animals and plants that live in rain forests are only found there, or in zoos. All people, creatures and plants live in a habitat, which is a specific place where animals and plants live together. Habitats can be found in a busy city, wide-open farmland or very cold places like the arctic. Think about what makes up the habitat where you live. Make a list to compare and contrast the habitat where you live with a rain forest. What animals do you see and hear? Where do they live? What important things do the plants, flowers and trees do to support the habitat? What else is a part of your habitat that might be different from or similar to a rain forest?

Reference:
Brown, C. (2014). Secrets of the rain forest. Tulsa, OK: Kane Miller, A Division of EDC Publishing.

[Charity]

Summary:
In this book, there is a lot of information about all different kinds of animals and plants in the rainforest. The pictures are made where you can see what is on the other side using light. It is a fascinating book with details about a rain forest environment.

Analysis:
I think this book is really well written and fun to look at. It describes parts of the rain forest well, and I think that kids would love to see the creatures hidden within the pages.

Classroom Ideas:
This book would be a good one when telling a class about the rain forest. It can help them see that there are more things out there than you can tell, but if you look closely, great things can be found.

[Ms. Layton + the Fearless Leaders]

I liked it, but it was kind of long. - MRA

It was really impressive and helps kids learn about other animals. Some animals use camouflage. - SA

There's a lot of animals that it talks about that live in the rainforest. - DA

There's a lot of stuff we can learn about that blends in with trees, vines, and leaves. - AG

[Ashley Aolani Salisbury]

An awesome book about the rain-forest. Breathtaking and creative hold up to the light book, full of amazing discoveries and fun facts about the incredible life in the rain-forest. Fun and exciting and a must read for non-fiction fans.

[Set]

Very informative for young minds to learn about the jungles that serve as a habitat to countless species we share the Earth with. The hidden images are always fun to guess and the illustrations are very clean-cut and beautiful.

[Haley Hoenke]

Science, Nature, Rain Forest Habitats

[Elizabeth]

AR ?

[Allyson Goose]

Fun way to learn about animals! Works to entice my bedtime-avoidant preschooler to come into the bedroom in the evening. My kindergartener and I like the book, too.

[Kaylynn Johnsen]

Fun reveals, good information, and back matter.

[Brenda]

A fun book that uses a flashlight to reveal hidden pictures.

[Karen]

This is not a well designed book you can hardly see through the pages even when you shine a light on them. The story is interesting in the information is useful.

[Carrie]

I love all the Usbourne Shine-a-Light books. They are very educational and reveal hidden secrets when using light behind the pages!

[Elizabeth]

Fun book to do with kids! My son pulled out the rest of our Shine-the-Light books and got a flashlight to read them. Great pictures and facts about rain forests.

[Michelle]

My daughter loved shining the flashlight and revealing the animals!

[Emma Adkins]

L

[R. L. Peterson]

We loved this one! Dixie was fascinated by the beautiful artwork and the cool flashlight features! Looking forward to reading more of these!

[Escobar Family]

My son is obsessed with animals and is just amazing by the shine light part. We cant wait to check out more of these books. It is also very informative

[Chrisanne]

Fun. Requires a bit more research.

[Grace]

OH I LOVE THIS. WHAT A COOL IDEA!!

[Teré Mashburn]

Text-to-World Connection:

This was an awesome book. I like the interaction due to the book being a, shine-a-light book. There are several things possible classroom activities that come to mind, but most of all the book reminds me of the concept of understanding that there is always a bigger picture. In our lives, although they are different in several ways, I feel like we can all relate with trying to understand the larger picture of something in particular. Often we just look at something and see just the surface, but we do not always dive deeper to understand the actual make up behind it. What I got from the book is that there is usually more going on underneath the surface. This can include a person's behavior, understanding/learning a particular concept; mainly, getting a full understanding including present information and what contributes to it.

[Leigh Isley]

Age Range: K – 2nd grades

Oh! What a fun non-fiction book with many surprises hiding throughout. In this book the authors shows special interests within the rainforest habitat. With each colorful and bright illustration, the rainforest is brought to life adding many facts about animals, plant life, and insects. Shine a light behind many of the pages to explore and find a world full of wonderful life like surprises.
Kindergarten parents will love sharing this book with their children as well as 1st and 2nd graders enjoying reading and locating all the attractions hidden within a rainforest.

[Barbara]

Readers can use a flashlight or a reading lamp to allow them to see what might be hiding in the rain forest depicted in this picture book. Among the hidden treasures are a tree frog, a hummingbird, and a beetle. By the time readers finish the book, they will be certain that there is much more in the rain forest than meets the eye, and that it is actually a pretty busy and noisy place. Originally published in the United Kingdom, the book makes readers think and pay attention to their own surroundings.

[Paula]

Amazon
Discover the animals and plants that live in and around a kapok tree, from the colorful parrots in the canopy to the sleek jaguar on the forest floor. This engaging non-fiction title will stimulate a love of the natural world as the vivacity of the rain forest is revealed through the bold and colorful artwork, and clever "see-through" pages.

[Amanda]

My kids love these"shine-a-light books!" We have this one and " Secrets of the Seashore" and they can't wait till bedtime to read them. I'm really excited to take these ones camping with us this year!

[Sydney]

i actully like it .anbody else like it? and i think that the way it works is awesome! beacause
when me and mom shone the light under the page all kinds of cool things showed up like
a butterfly .





Sydney,age 8

[Shauna Ludlow Smith]

Great interactive book to use with a flashlight to discover hidden animals. Kids love it!

[Nancy Crawford]

Another great addition to the shine a light series.