Prairie Dogs Kiss and Lobsters Wave: How Animals Say Hello

by Marilyn Singer, Normand Chartier (Illustrator)

When people meet, they shake hands, hug, smile, and say, "How are you? What's new?" But what about lions and bears and fish? How do they greet one another?

In this intriguing picture book Marilyn Singer explores, explains, and describes the extraordinary ways in which animals communicate. When zebras meet, for example, they pull back their lips and chew the air to show that they won't bite each other.

Young readers will also be introduced to some of the basic elements of animal behavior, such as why lions are the only wild cats that live in groups. Detailed illustrations by Normand Chartier complete this informative look at the fascinating world of the animal kingdom.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Marilyn Singer was born in the Bronx (New York City) on October 3, 1948 and lived most of her early life in N. Massapequa (Long Island), NY. She attended Queens College, City University of New York, and for her junior year, Reading University, England. She holds a B.A. in English from Queens and an M.A. in Communications from New York University.

In 1974, after teaching English in New York City high schools for several years, she began to write - initially film notes, catalogues, teacher's guides and film strips. Then, one day, when she was sitting in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, she penned a story featuring talking insect characters she'd made up when she was eight. Encouraged by the responses she got, she wrote more stories and in 1976 her first book, The Dog Who Insisted He Wasn't, was published by E.P.Dutton & Co.

Since then, Marilyn has published over seventy books for children and young adults. Her genres are many and varied, including realistic novels, fantasies, non-fiction, fairy tales, picture books, mysteries and poetry. She likes writing many different kinds of books because it's challenging and it keeps her from getting bored. She has won several Children's Choice and Parents' Choice Awards, as well as the following: the Creature Carnival, Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award Honor Book, 2005; I Believe in Water: Twelve Brushes with Religion, New York Public Library's "Best Books for the Teen Age," 2001; Stay True: Short Stories for Strong Girls, Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, 2000 (YALSA); On the Same Day in March, Booklist's Top Ten Science Books of 2000; NCSS-CBC Notable Book, 2000; Deal with a Ghost, finalist, YA category, Edgar Award, 1998; It Can't Hurt Forever, Maud Hart Lovelace Award, 1983; The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, 1983; Turtle in July, NCTE Notable, N.Y.Times Best Illustrated and Time Magazine Best Children's Books of 1989; Turtle in July was also a Reading Rainbow review book.

Marilyn currently lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband Steve; their standard poodle Oggi, a cousin of their beloved and recently departed poodle Easy, seen in the home page photo; a cat named August ; two collared doves named Jubilee and Holiday; and a starling named Darling. Her interests include dog training, reading, hiking, bird-watching, gardening, meditation, playing computer adventure games and going to the movies and the theatre. She's also a major Star Trek fan.

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute book about different ways different animals say hello. Really wordy and not very interesting to a younger audience, but great for 3rd grade and up. (picture)

[Maxine Fife · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is about a variety of different animals in a variety of different environments. This story goes through different animals and the way these animals greet each other, defend themselves, and mate with one another. I really enjoyed this book because it was very educational. I was unaware of the different ways animals communicate and say hello to one another. I think this book would be great for young children in a science class learning about animals.

[Lauren Voland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute book for kids who want to learn more about animals. It has cute illustrations with information on different animals. The one thing that I wasnt a huge fan about is the lengthy pages. They arent too bad but it could be hard to keep the child engaged when there are alot of words on the pages. Other than that, I liked it.

[Hannah]

Title: Prairie Dogs Kiss and Lobsters Wave: How Animals Say Hello
Author: Marilyn Singer
Illustrator: Normand Chartier
Genre: Photographic Essay
Theme(s): Animal communication, social behavior in animals
Opening line/sentence:
"Introduction
When people meet each other, they shake hands, slap five, smile,
salute, bow, embrace, say Yo. Hello. How are you? Good morning. Good
evening. What's up. What's new?"
Brief Book Summary:
Marilyn Singer explores different animal greetings in her book, Prairie Dogs Kiss and Lobsters Wave: How Animals Say Hello. Readers learn that every animal expresses their greeting in a unique way -- while geese stretch their necks to indicate a hello, luminous fish flow to express enchantments. Moreover, readers learn the specifics of how each greeting originated, and why such animals benefit from the strategy. For example, the glow of the fish helps the creature navigate through dark waters, while also signaling to other fish if a predator is nearby. The descriptive and colorful illustrations of this book also allow readers to grasp the physical sense of each greeting, too.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Patricia Twohey -- Bookbag Magazine
The colorful illustrations and informative text introduce thirteen different domestic and wild animals from both the land and the sea. Young animal lovers will say hello to this book again and again.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Adele Greenlee -- School Library Journal
Singer describes the social behavior of 14 animals, showing the different ways these creatures greet others of their own species. An introduction notes that human greetings vary depending on the situation and explains that those of animals may also vary depending on gender, rank, or whether the creatures are strangers to one another. Dogs smell one another's faces and hindquarters to determine age, gender, and willingness to mate. Prairie dog strangers try to bite each other but friends or relatives kiss with lips open and teeth bared. The habits of walruses, giraffes, chimpanzees, bees, elephants, zebras, lions, bears, lobsters, and luminous fish are also included. Each two-page spread is devoted to one animal with several paragraphs of text and a watercolor illustration. The facts are entertaining and informative and will encourage children to watch animals in their homes, natural environments, or zoos with greater knowledge and interest.
Response to Two Professional Reviews:
As explained by both reviews, the varied and wide array of information included in this book allows readers to understand a greater sense of learning in coordination with animal social interactions. Moreover, I also agree that the illustrations within this piece allow for opportunity to familiarize with the social cues, as students could identify and recognize what the physicality of the interaction actually involves. Moreover, the bold and simple text is clear and concise -- students will not be confused in the conventional components of this piece, but will instead acknowledge the nonfiction evidence.
Evaluation of Literary Elements:
Due to the photographic essay nature of this piece, the reading structure is quite simple, and evidently clear. Moreover, the pictures are consistently organized within the spatial sense of each page, and all text is contained to one block of each page spread. Furthermore, each page also includes a title which concisely describes both the animal and the greeting. Because of this, students can quickly and easily reference different pieces of the essay without wasting time hunting through the content.
Consideration of Instructional Application:
Prior to a trip to a zoo or animal exhibit, this book could be used to introduce animal social interactions. Moreover, following a reading, students can discuss and elaborate upon different human interactions when signaling a greeting. This book also lends well for discussing diversity, as students can describe how people of different backgrounds say hello in a variety of manners, yet the greetings all mean the same thing.

[Deborah Harris]

RL 4.25 GRL - R

AR Quiz No. 34959 EN Nonfiction
Accelerated Reader Quiz Information IL: LG - BL: 5.8 - AR Pts: 1.0
Accelerated Reader Quiz Type Information AR Quiz Types: RP

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for understanding that all animals communicate with each other and show a good variety of familiar animals. Would be fun for a communication theme unit or animal unit.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot. Pretty interesting besides.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informational Text